One Born Every Minute..

[DomesticG0ddess]

Was asked today if I was interested in having my labour filmed by C4, in October . I can not imagine anything worse and don't understand why ANYONE would want to do such a thing!!! I had an appointment the other day with a head midwife and agreed to a researcher being in the room, which was bad enough, but a camera? I can't think of anything more likely to make my poor cervix close with fright.

Hi there DG
My grown up job (when not been a mummy or preggers) is a TV Director, and I've made loads and loads of birth/pregnancy programmes and must have filmed upwards of 30 different births myself. So can possibly offer a bit of personnel advice on it (am 36 weeks preggers at the mo so can understand how you'll be feeling!)

Ive always been in total shock and awe at people who say yes to having their births filmed, and obviously incredibly grateful coz without them we would not have these marvellous programmes to watch! Without exception everyone who I have filmed has always told me that they wanted to do it to have that moment to look back on in years to come, can you imagine watching the day you came into the world? must be quite mind boggling.
One born is an incredible series, (BAFTA award winning!) and the majority of the filming is done remotely like big brother so only cameras in room when you're in labour, no big hairy cameramen or anything. Any additional filming would prob be done by a crew etc.
I
know you've prob made your mind up, but just wanted to say you may well find it a really rewarding experience and have something amazing to look back on! I have always had a policy of never ever showing full on lady parts, its just not necessary when showing how amazing childbirth is, you can get a perfectly good views elsewhere and I did always think we should try and give the women some dignity! And Im sure that this series is the same, I certainly don't remember seeing any full on frontals!

Sorry to ramble on but as someone who works in this field and has watched hours and hours of these kind of programmes I take my hat off to the women that take part coz we learn such a lot from those programmes. And now the boot is on the other foot and someone were to come and ask me if they could film my birth I think I would honestly say yes, and I am in no way an exhibitionist!
Exciting to be asked though!

I'd love that, what a great thing to be able to look back on.

I'd LOVE to do it !

that means there is going to be another series of one born every minute! Hoorah!

Thanks Kity for your feedback. I appreciate what you are saying, and I understand about having a record of the birth, but my experience of birth is not something I want to shout about and share, but was a frightening spiral to an emcs. This time I will be trying for a VBAC, and hope for a more positive experience. If I wanted a record of it then we could film it ourselves (I presume this is allowed, maybe not?), but the thought of sharing an experience when I am at my most vulnerable, with the nation, is not something that appeals. I'd also worry about the editing - some of the characters came across terribly!

But it is a good programme and I enjoyed watching bits of it, so hats off to the women who do want to share such a special/scary time.

very exciting to be asked!

but i agree, i would never do it. i'm not one of those people who think childbirth is a beautiful romantic experience, i think there are stages where by necessity you actually lose your dignity, and i certainly wouldn't want me in pain caught on camera least of all for others to see. i don't understand how anyone agrees to this.

I would have happily done this but not sure what the consent stuff is like, I would want the option to say afterwards that I am not happy for it to be used. If for example I had a more complex and stressful time than I had imagined.

I gave birth in the water both times and so my privacy was intact pretty much and there wouldn't have been any shots of everyone looking at my fangolina to see how we were getting on.

Would be fab if the one born every minute team followed a community midwife attached to that unit for a home birth as well so that the real life experience could be seen along side the hospital unit experience.

Bythepower (is that from HeMan???? rings some sort of bell!), I did see a notice in the MW dept that the team are also going to be at the Birth Centre, not just the hospital, so it might be possible if someone agrees, I guess.

yes it is from heman, it is the phrase he said as he lifted his sword into the air!

Wow, have not heard that for a long time!!

Totally and utterly understand your feelings! Its really not for everyone and like I said I've always been totally amazed that people do actually say yes to being filmed.

I loved the series too, think the men on the whole came off terribly though! but did make me appreciate by other half much more

Hope my post didn't come across as bossy or that I was trying to talk you into it! Totally wasn't, just offering an opinion.
Am very excited that they're making another series though!
x

Kity I was interested in what you wrote. I am expecting DC2 later on this year and have been reading Ina May Gaskin's books by way of preparation GuideToChildbirth.

One of the criticisms she makes of our culture is that very few women witness another woman having a natural birth in RL or on TV. Fictional TV and film tends to sensationalise childbirth with dramatic scenes of waters breaking, cars racing to the hospital, women screaming their heads off etc. Documentaries of the type it sounds you have made tend to avoid actually showing a baby coming out of a vagina. I assume there are decency guidelines that prevent this from being shown in the UK? Ina May is American so is speaking primarily about the States, but she writes that it is okay to show a c-section delivery but not a vaginal delivery. The effect of this she argues is that it very difficult for women to see what ought to be "normal". This creates an expectation that heavily medicalised births requiring lots of pain relief and interventions will probably happen to them. In turn this builds fear, and in turn inhibits the progress labour.

I really enjoyed watching the first series of "One Born Every Minute" and thought that it was brilliantly edited, both as birth stories and for the slightly cruel entertaining characterisations of the people involved. If I was asked whether I would want to be filmed I'm not at all sure what my answer would be. "No" I expect, probably because of my own prudish attitudes, which are of course in part the product of our culture.

Hats off to the women who agree to be filmed though.

BTW the Ina May books are a fascinating read, and really are helping me to re-evaluate some of my own perceptions about childbirth. If I were to have DC1 again I think I would skip NCT, just buy the Ina May book and save myself £100!

Thanks Spider! I totally agree with you, by being involved with these series when it came to having my first I wasn't in the slightest bit scared as Id learnt and witnessed so much! Unfortunately my birth ended in a EMCS but up to that point the whole experience was incredible, very relaxing, very calm and I did have the mantra of "your body is meant to do this" going round in my head.

I know that telly is guilty of sensationalising a lot of things, but sometimes I think it does serve a great purpose where people actually do learn and take something from the programmes. One of the things that has stuck in my head over the years was how serene the vast majority of women are the minute that baby is placed in their arms (yes I know there will be many who disagree with this) but for the majority of the births I've filmed the women have literally gone from the height of the pain and contractions and pushing to being tranquil and calm once they are holding their baby. It was another thing that helped me through, I knew that once I was holding my baby I would be fine. It really is pain for a purpose. The female body is a remarkable thing and its just incredible what its capable of!

The only thing programmes are guilty of is ramping up the drama, which in certain cases just isn't necessary but drama and suspense make good telly so any time there is an opportunity to really build this up they do. I have been guilty of it myself in the edit suite

I do have the Ina May book but havent yet managed to get into it! I read so many with DS1, Stand and Deliver been my fav. But this time round having a toddler to deal with books seem a total luxury! If I have time to read, I have time to sleep if you know what I mean!

Very much looking forward to second series though!

I don't think it is "prudish" not to want to give birth on TV!

I have been reading Ina May too - inspiring!

there is NO WAY I would ever agree to be on television at all in any circumstances, but the prospect of agreeing to be filmed in labour for all my professional colleagues etc to see on telly is utterly horrendous!

sweet jesus

not for all the tea in china!

I'd say no too, but I am delighted that there is going to be another series...wonder if I'll cry as much this time when I'm not actually pregnant...cried within a minute at every episode last time!

It's already so hot in the labour ward I can never understand how any poor woman being filmed giving birth can stand yet more people again creating heat and sucking away the already thin air that she has to contend with.

There were 5 or so people in the room when I gave birth to dd I felt a complete lack of privacy there's no way I could have a camera crew as well.

That said I always used to watch birth shows whilst bfing! Nothing better!

I was asked recently too, I'm due in October as well and we obviously live near each other .

I said no without hesitation, I cannot imagine being filmed whilst going through childbirth, or wanting anyone to see the film of it afterwards! That said, I do really admire the ladies who agreed to be filmed, as the programme was so useful to me, it started just after I found out I was pregnant.

So, is it being filmed in the same hospital as last time, or somewhere else?

*haverina8, the last series was on after i'd had DD and i blubbed EVERY WEEK, without fail!

It was on when my son was in SCBU and I watched it in the family room there. Very weird.

I'm so glad its coming back, I love that show! As much as I admire the women who agree to be filmed I'd say no - it was embarrassing enough pooing myself in front of dh, a midwife and a dr without someone filming it!

Its being filmed at southampton - Princess Anne again...there was a post on the pregnancy thread a while back asking for volunteers. I would also say No, but have actually just watched those in the series I missed and really wished still lived nr there as the hospital is so much nicer than my local.

sounds hell, would rather have my knees nailed together

I don't think there's a camera crew in with them - at the beginning of the programme, they say it is done by 'hidden' cameras in the delivery rooms.

I loved the programme (I also sobbed my way through each and every episode) but I am not sure that I would agree to it.