A new six-part series reveals Life and Birth through the eyes of parents and staff at three of Birmingham’s busiest maternity hospitals, including Birmingham Women’s Hospital in Edgbaston.
The BBC One and Dragonfly Film and Television Productions Ltd documentary first airs on BBC One at 8pm tonight (Tuesday 21st April) and will also be available on BBC iPlayer.
Narrated by Suranne Jones and produced by Dragonfly – the makers of the BAFTA award-winning BBC ONE series Ambulance – Life And Birth goes beyond the stories of the labour ward and meets the people who help the safe and healthy delivery of babies, showing maternity care in a way that it has not been seen before.
With unprecedented access across two NHS trusts, from the antenatal clinics and nationally renowned Fetal Medicine Centres, to the delivery suites, emergency operating theatres and Birmingham Children’s Hospital, the series gives an extraordinary and privileged insight into the places where cutting-edge medicine meets the miracle of birth every single day.
From intricate lifesaving surgical procedures on babies in the womb, to specialist care for women who have had multiple miscarriages, to births which go as planned, this programme captures the incredible work of NHS midwifes, doctors and surgeons, who are dedicated to supporting families as they bring new life into the world.
During production last year, filmmakers had access to three of the West Midlands’ busiest and most diverse maternity units – Heartlands Hospital, Good Hope Hospital and Birmingham Women’s Hospital.
The series features a range of birth stories, from early scans and pre-term complications in the antenatal clinics to those starting to push on the delivery suite; from emergency caesarean sections in theatre to families in intensive care and in the post-natal ward getting to know their newborns before they head home.
In episode one, 33 year-old Channelle is expecting her first child. She has left behind a jet-setting career as a DJ and moved back in with her mum. Channelle is determined to have an intervention-free birth, but with her baby overdue, doctors decide to induce her.
Childhood sweethearts 22 year-old Ashleigh and her partner Luke are expecting their second child together. Their first born, struggled spent time in neonatal intensive care after he went on to develop sepsis. Four hours after being induced, Ashleigh’s labour begins and the couple hope everything will go smoothly this time around.
Jodie’s baby arrives eight weeks early, but Jenna is on the antenatal ward trying to keep her baby in as doctors try to help her unborn baby, who has a rare heart condition.
Head of Documentary Commissioning, Clare Sillery said: “This programme is going to be a fascinating addition to the BBC One schedule to bring families together in the miracle of birth. We hope audiences will enjoy it as much as they love Ambulance.”
Creative Director of Dragonfly Richard Bond said: “Warm, funny and truthful, often nail-bitingly tense, and always deeply emotional, this is 360 storytelling at its best.”
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