to want to slap the girl on 'one born every minute'?

[HoopsIsGettingMassive]

in the title really, she is really making a meal of it!!

My mum told me something similar to Sam's mum

It was the best thing she did... really sorted me out and made me deal with what was happening

I don't think she meant it in a cruel way... more to break her noise of screeching with no effect and make her work through it properly and to not hyperventilate

I was like sam until my mum arrived (ex was useless and wound me up even more) - she gave me a short shrift and told me to get a grip!

It worked though - the labour went much smoother after that!

Morris great posts.

I agree this is a useful programme for preparing people for a uk birth. It clearly shows women left only with family for many hours when they are labouring. I really stupidly had this idea that the job of a midwife was to be with you during labour - this simply does not happen ime. And this programme shows women without a midwife most of the time.

Clearly they don't go into the job simply to leave women alone during labour, obviously there aren't enough of them, but the end result is the same.

If I did labour again I would absolutely 100% have a doula. To me, the main work of a midwife/doula is supporting through the contractions not just the actual birth (for me, like someone else mentioned, I had a back to back labour which was excrutiating from the off and it was terrifying pain, traumatic violent pain; I needed someone with experience to nurse me through this)

I didn't see it.

But - she sounds like I was with DS2's birth. I was induced, I was in agony before I was even in "established labour". It was hours or sheer torture, they wouldn't give me anything to start with as I was only 1 or 2 cm dilated and "not in labour"

I was in so much pain I was sick.The followed another 13hrs or so of hell, when they did eventually give me pain relief it didn't work, but they kept telling me to calm down and stop screaming (well the screaming was in part to due to the twat of a consultant who obviously didn't have a fucking clue what vaginismus was and couldn't get his hear around why the internals hurt more than the fucking contractions.

INterestingly though I think I mad a lot less noise than I did with DS3's fantastic birth - which was relatively short and sweet (3cm-born in just under 3hrs). But I kept screaming - I did occasionally manage to turn it into a moo, but it was all happening so fast and I was having contractions one on top of the other that most were definitely screams with a few moos scattered in between.

oh and I should add I had a fanastic doula for DS3's birth (the one where I just couldn't help but scream)

I have to say this..... even though I know it is mean as she probably was in real pain.... she made me laugh. Stoicism was probably not on her list of qualities (I accept I will get slated for this).

However, in saying that her baby was very sweet and when there was a piccie of her at the end with her baby I thought she was so sweet with it and so clearly a natural mother.

I veered between wanting to tell Sam to get a grip and feeling sorry for her.

Didn't her birth experience just perfectly illustrate the 'cascade of intervention'. Throw the drugs into her and numb her from the waist down. Then surprise surprise the baby's heartbeat decelerates and suddenly there's 'no choice' but to have a section

I'm so glad I had my baby at home.

I thought Joy was hilarious

The Chinese lady is diabetic and needs to time her insulin injections to keep herself OK! Have a heart.

I haven't read the entire thread so apologies for any repetition.

Sure, it was Sam's first-time, the birth was complex, and the show highly edited - so we should cut the girl some slack. However! the thing that really upset me about Sam was this: her mum said 'just think about meeting your beautiful baby girl' and Sam said 'she's a fucking bitch!'

It seemed deeply wrong that Sam would voice her physical and emotional distress as a dislike of her daughter.

The receptionist is the one in need of a slap.

I can hardly believe this thread is about slapping a women in labour, even in jest. My mother was slapped on the face during her labour. She was slapped twice.To put it in context it was her first labour, at just 32 weeks, and no one could be bothered to contact my father.

What Morris said. It is also what DH and I said when watching it.

Btw some of you on here are being really nasty. Perhaps you need to have a look at yourselves?

I am hoping some of you have yet to deliver a baby and are just ignorant. But some of you I'm afraid are a nasty and a bit thick.

belgo - why?! That's terrible ...

Joy was funny I agree

and so inappropriately named

though she was completely entitled to be utterly fed up!

yes it is terrible, which is why I don't see the funny side of this thread.

It was by the midwife. My mother was alone, terrified and had no pain relief and no support. She started screaming for my father. The midwife, instead of phoning my father, slapped my mother, and told her to be quiet.

Im surprised nobody else had mentioned the 'shes a little bitch' comment

that was when the mum started being harsh with her

belgo, that is just terrible. And assault. Your poor mum.

What a bitchy thread title

I watched it last night and saw a young woman in pain and not coping very well. Just because you've been through childbirth and coped 'better' doesn't mean this woman wasn't going through a horrible and very painful experience.

Why do some women think it's a badge of honour to be as macho as they possibly can we they are in labour?

'If worse comes to the worse stop at the garage on the way to hospital and get energy drinks and drink them during labour, if you start to loose all your energy it's a slippery slope.'

I went to hospital with DD1, totally clueless, at 11PM. 2cm dilated.

They told me no food and drink.

I had an epi at 6AM the following morning.

They put a canula in, but didn't attach it to a saline bag.

I gave birth at 4.05PM via H-F forceps with accompanying cut and stitches.

Having not eaten or drunk anything since 9PM the day before.

It was June of the hottest summer on record in a while and I was horrendously dehydrated.

They never attached that canula to anything.

I was moved to a room on my own at 7PM and left entirely on my own. DH was told to leave at 8PM.

I rang the bell at 9, because I needed teh toilet and my legs were still on pins and needles.

So I wound up crawling to the loo and back.

I'd missed dinner. So no food till the next day (I threw up the toast they gave me right after the birth).

Having DS, I was alone. No birth partner as DH had to stay with the girls, the hospital was a 1.5 ambulance journey away and it was the middle of the night.

I was left entirely alone, begging for an epidural, for hours, stoned on morphine and G&A.

Every time they came, I asked for an epi. Was instead asked if I wanted to go on the ball or move around.

'NO. I want a damn epidural. I've already given birth with no pain relief and I won't do it again.'

And I didn't.

Haven't read all the posts but jeez, that receptionist needs sacked a bit of customer care training. I hope she's watching in horror from behind her sofa.

Thought Joy was fab for someone who'd been induced for 4 days, diabetic and without food. I defy anyone to say that they'd find the whole thing hilarious if it were them.

yes now it would be assault, but 35 years ago my mother just had to accept it. It makes me very angry though.

Your post expat just reaffirms my decision to stay home until absolutely last minute. Would much rather an accidental home/taxi birth than spending hours and hours and hours in an unpleasant room with no food!

Last time we made it with an hour to spare, so am hoping for a similar arrangement. I didn't eat for most of my 2 day labour but that was because I wasn't hungry, drank heaps of water though.

Have done an Ocado shop thanks to this thread!

I wonder when the people featured in this programme gave consent to be filmed. It must have been before they arrived to actually have the babies, surely?

I had both DS's in the Princess Anne, where the programme was filmed, and their food system is appalling!! With DS1, it was lovely proper food, on a china plates, knives and forks, etc. By DS2 - born during the filming - they had some mad new outside contractor, all the food is on plastic plates and is heated up quickly, like airline food. The system is completely hit and miss - while I was in surgical recovery, the same woman came in 3 times to take my meal order - it was like Groundhog Day, the midwife and HCA were in hysterics at my perplexed face, and me trying to be polite and pretend it was fine!! And if you get moved between ordering your meal and it being served, they will NEVER get your original meal to your new location.

As you can tell, food is very important to me...I didn't make a fuss when they were 2 hours late with my painkillers but I kicked up a fuss when my dinner went awol!! So I completely identified with Joy, even without the diabetes!

'Your post expat just reaffirms my decision to stay home until absolutely last minute. Would much rather an accidental home/taxi birth than spending hours and hours and hours in an unpleasant room with no food!'

DD2 was born 20 minutes after arrival.

With DS, the problem was that there is no CLU for many miles.

I already knew I wanted an epi for that birth because I was scarred by the pain of giving birth to DD2 and I knew I was going to be on my own.

Hospital is only 5 mins in a cab away and I have an extensive list of cab companies/friends with cars so should be cool.