The Begotten ( episode ) Odo receives a sick infant Changeling from Quark and tries to teach it to shapeshift without resorting to the invasive techniques used by his old mentor , Doctor Mora . Meanwhile , Major Kira gives birth to the O ' Briens ' baby . Summary . Teaser . With his back in severe pain , Odo hobbles into the infirmary convinced that he has become infected with Alvanian spine mites . However , Doctor Bashir diagnoses a pinched nerve resulting from bad posture and advises that Odo try some of Worf ' s morning exercise classes . Quark , intruding , suggests he try a holosuite program featuring three Orion slave girl s instead , much to Odo ' s annoyance . Unperturbed by the Constable ' s hostility , Quark explains that he has obtained something from a Yridian dealer that Odo might be interested in – a dead Changeling , contained in an ornate container . After settling a price of eight slips of gold - pressed latinum upon realizing that the Changeling is actually alive , but sick , Quark sells it to Odo . Bashir advises placing the Changeling into a containment field but Odo assures him there ' s no need – it is just an infant . Act One . In the Infirmary , Captain Sisko and Odo regard the sick and discolored infant Changeling . Odo explains that when he was found , he was as small as the infant in front of them ; its mass will increase as its shapeshifting abilities develop . Bashir concludes that the infant was exposed to a massive amount of tetryon radiation , and that he will have to purge the isotopes with an electrophoretic diffuser . Sisko asks Odo if he ' s sure the infant poses no threat . Odo explains that when he was found he had no idea of what he was or where he was from – what better way for the Hundred , and therefore the Founder s , to gauge other species than by the way they treated the weak and vulnerable . When Sisko suggests that valuable intelligence could be gained by studying the infant , Odo asks that he be allowed to work with it , to teach it to shapeshift . Sisko proposes that Odo contact his old mentor , Doctor Mora Pol , for help , but Odo states that he would rather do it alone . Some time later , Bashir reports that the purge was almost 100 % successful . He says he must leave to check on Major Kira , who has gone into labor with the O ' Briens ' baby , but Odo is preoccupied by thoughts of the infant . Before he leaves , Bashir advises that there is still a small degree of instability in the infant ' s morphogenic matrix and that he has set the computer to monitor for fluctuations . Once Bashir has gone , Odo begins to talk softly to the infant , explaining how he spent months in a lab being studied and how he felt lost and alone . He promises that it won ' t be that way this time . In a birthing room , a Bajoran midwife , Miles and Keiko O ' Brien use percussion instruments to sound out a soothing rhythm as Doctor Bashir examines Major Kira . Miles struggles to keep the rhythm and complains that the birth is taking longer than expected . Bashir explains that for Bajoran women , giving birth is all about being relaxed ; Miles counters that Kira will not relax until First Minister Shakaar arrives – just then he does , a few hours late . Seated at a table in the Replimat , Odo talks to the infant Changeling , which is now contained within a drinking glass . He is interrupted by Worf , who asks why Odo is talking to his beverage . Odo explains that it is a Changeling , causing Worf to look uncertainly at his own drink . Back in the science lab , Odo explains with wonder to the infant that it is a Changeling , a shapeshifter , and that it could be anything – a Tarkalean hawk soaring through the sky , or a Filian python burrowing deep beneath the ground . He admits that he was never a very good shapeshifter , but believes he can be a good teacher . He promises once again that he will never treat the infant the way he was treated . Just then , Doctor Mora arrives and explains that he has heard about the infant and wants to help , much to Odo ' s dismay . Act Two . Mora admires the infant Changeling ' s size , and is surprised that Odo hasn ' t measured it . Barely hiding his annoyance at Mora ' s presence , Odo remarks that he thought Mora was on Earth helping Starfleet to develop new ways to detect Changeling infiltrators . Mora informs him that he had recently arrived on Bajor in order to visit his parents . With genuine concern , he asks how Odo is and reveals that he has been worried since the Founders removed Odo ' s shapeshifting abilities . As Mora picks up an instrument to start measuring the infant Odo reacts angrily , determined not to let Mora perform any experiments on it . Nevertheless determined to offer his advice , Mora suggests reducing the temperature to 17 °C , at which the infant ' s morphogenic matrix will be most malleable . He adds that Odo could benefit from much of his knowledge , and begrudgingly Odo agrees to look at his reports . But Odo is still angry and resentful about the tests Mora subjected him to , a fact not lost on his old mentor . Mora states that he would be fascinated to observe Odo ' s less invasive approach to working with the infant , and determines to stay and observe . In the birthing room , the midwife announces that Kira has been in labor for too long and won ' t give birth today . It is obvious that Miles blames Shakaar because of his late arrival , but Kira asks Shakaar to stay around for a while . Odo begins to introduce shapes to the infant , starting with a sphere . The infant remains motionless and in a gelatinous state but Odo persists , showing different shapes to it and talking about what they represent . One week later , Mora expresses concern that the infant has barely increased in size and Odo seems to have made no progress in teaching it to assume other shapes . Their barely contained annoyance with each other finally boils over and they start to bicker . At the height of their argument they are interrupted by Captain Sisko , who reports that Starfleet Command is eager to establish communication with the infant as soon as possible . With little progress to date , Sisko warns that Starfleet may want to take over the project and asks that Odo file daily reports from now on . Drawing a comparison to the type of pressure he was placed under by the Cardassian s when he was working on Odo during the Occupation , Mora suggests that they try some of his more invasive techniques on the infant . Act Three . With obvious reluctance , Odo places the infant into one of Mora ' s electrostatic devices – a circular shallow tank that carries a charge around the outside but no charge in the center . Mora insists that Odo initiate the charge , which he timidly does , and then that he increase it to a level at which the infant will feel discomfort . As Odo does so the infant begins to move for the first time , quickly sliding to the center to avoid the charge . Odo can ' t help but smile , and Mora reveals that he also smiled the first time Odo did that . In Kira ' s bedroom , O ' Brien massages her legs while Shakaar invites her to a zero - gravity tumbling performance on the Promenade . As the men squabble over the best way to relax her , Kira suddenly realizes that she ' s going back into labor . Continuing to use Mora ' s electrostatic device , Odo is able to coax the infant into forming and holding shapes . He reveals to Mora that he used to not hold his shape on purpose in order to deny Mora the satisfaction of seeing it . Wistfully , Mora suggests that one day , if Odo is lucky , the infant may thank him for his efforts ; on the other hand it may just leave , like Odo did . As they turn to leave the lab , the infant begins to form a shape , snaking up towards Odo and bending towards him . As Odo leans in to look closer , the infant forms a rough mirror of Odo ' s face . Odo and Mora are overcome with joy . Act Four . Returning to Odo ' s office , Odo and Mora are effervescent . Excitedly they chatter about the infant ' s shapeshifting . Mora suggests that in the coming days they begin to expose it to simple life forms , while Odo enthuses that he can ' t wait to communicate with it – there ' s so much he wants it to see , so much he wants to share . Mora compliments Odo on his approach of communicating with the infant , and admits that he was wrong . He can see that the infant is reaching out to Odo , is curious about him ; the first time Odo did anything like that was when he formed a tentacle to slap Mora ' s hand away from the control panel of one of his devices . Mora admits that he was never able to form a connection with Odo , but Odo tells him that ' s not true . Odo suggests that he would still be nothing more than a lump of organic residue if it were not for Mora , and Mora is overcome . The two men have finally reached an understanding . As Mora turns to leave , Odo orders two glasses of champagne from the replicator so that they can celebrate . Back in the birthing room , Kira is finally relaxed enough to give birth . Shakaar tries to keep Miles out of the way , but after missing his daughter Molly ' s birth Miles is determined not to miss this one . As they squabble , Kira tells them to leave . In his darkened bar , Quark counts his profits on a PADD and mutters to himself that he ' ll have to start watering the drinks again . Startled by a noise , he notices Odo behind the bar setting out bottles and glasses . Doctor Mora , Odo says , has gone to sleep and he feels like celebrating , so he ' s buying Quark a drink . Initially skeptical at seeing Odo happy , Quark eventually comes round when Odo explains that finding the infant has changed his life ; he has found a part of himself that he lost when he was forced to become a solid . Just then they are interrupted by the computer , which announces that it has detected biomimetic fluctuations in the infant . As Odo rushes into the science lab , Mora explains that the infant ' s morphogenic matrix is destabilizing : it is dying . Odo is grief - stricken . Act Five . In the infirmary , Bashir speculates that the radiation must have damaged the infant ' s cytoplasm in a way they weren ' t able to detect . Mora suggests using an enzymatic induction to stabilize the biomimetic fluctuations . Mora asks Odo to wait outside . Kira , utterly relaxed , finally nears delivery . Keiko invites Miles and Shakaar back into the room just in time to witness the birth of a baby boy , Kirayoshi . Bashir emerges from the infirmary and solemnly informs Odo that there was nothing they could do . Odo enters and takes the dying infant into his hands , begging it not to die . As he does so , it absorbs itself into his body and he stumbles backwards . Shocked , he walks towards the infirmary doors and then shapeshifts into a Tarkalean hawk , soaring up into the rafters of the Promenade and swooping over the upper level before coming to rest on one of the walkways . As he changes back into his normal self , his face is a mixture of joy ( of regaining his powers ) and sorrow ( for the loss of the infant Changling ) . At one of the docking ports , Kira sees Shakaar onto a shuttle bound for Bajor . He invites her to take some leave and stay with him for a while , but she feels like staying aboard the station for a while . Doctor Mora , also boarding the shuttle , tells Odo to think of the return of his shapeshifting abilities as a gift , something the infant wanted him to have . Odo admits that he finally understands what he must have meant to Mora , and vows to involve his mentor more in his life . They hug , and Mora departs . Kira expresses her sorrow to Odo , and confides that she never wanted a baby but now just wants to hold him in her arms and never let go . Odo replies that he knows how she feels . Kira wraps her arm around her friend ' s shoulders and they slowly walk off together . Memorable quotes . " " Besides , it ' s nice having someone around to help change the diapers . " " " " Constable , why are you talking to your beverage ? " " " " It ' s not a beverage . It ' s a Changeling . Excuse me , commander . " " " " I missed Molly ' s birth ; I ' m not gonna miss this one ! " " " " Oh , do me a favor . Next time you have a baby , leave my girlfriend out of it , huh ? " " " " If it wasn ' t for me , you ' d still be sitting on a shelf somewhere in a beaker labeled ' unknown sample ' . " " " " If it wasn ' t for " me " , you ' d be a nobody . Starfleet wouldn ' t hire you to judge a science fair ! " " " " If " you ' re " happy , there ' s something very wrong in the world . The center cannot hold . " " Links and references . References . algae ; Alvanian spine mite ; Bajor ; Bajoran ; Bajoran cabasa ; biomimetic fluctuation ; bio - probe ; Cardassian ; Celsius ; Chamber of Horrors ; champagne ; Changeling ; Constable ; cytoplasm ; cytoplasmic separator ; data reversion trace ; diaper s ; Earth ; electrophoretic diffuser ; endorphin ; enzymatic induction ; Filian python ; First Minister ; fungus ; holosuite ; infant Changeling ; invertebrate ; latinum ; medical tricorder ; Milky Way Galaxy ; millivolt ; morphogenic matrix ; ; ; Orion slave girl ; pinched nerve ; posture ; Promenade ; Prophet s ; protein decompiler ; prune juice ; Quark ' s ; science fair ; security report ; Shuttle 4709 ; spinal column ; stretch ; Tarkalean hawk ; tentacle ; tetryon ; toast ; tricorder ; vacuum chamber ; Yridian ; zero - grav tumbling