What's the most/least realistic childbirth scene in a film or TV programme?

[BellaBearisWideAwake]

I was watching Knocked Up the other night, and it seemed ok ish, I mean nothing like my labour, and very medical, but perhaps that's just what birth is like in the USA?

My nomination for least realistic: Phoebe giving birth to triplets in Friends. Vaginally with minimal pain relief and HCPs around

(Obviously watching the wrong sort of films etc etc, oh the innocence)

I think most of the birth scenes were pretty realistic in ER. All very medicalised but with real trauma. The one that sticks out is Carter's wife having to give birth after their baby dies in the womb .

Worst has to be a toss up between Phoebe and Daphne.

I just watched Betty Draper give birth in Mad Men, tranquillised into some sort of twilight world where she thought she was dying. A highly medicalised birth and that showed uncomfortable similarities to mine.

And the baby in Lost always had plenty of nappies and clean blankets.

Where did they come from?

Was going to say Daphne keeping her tights on.

wasn't there one in Hollyoaks where the baby was born wearing a nappy? I think I saw it on Harry Hill rather than the show.

Miranda in SATC. Waters breaking all over SJP's Louboutins. Slight look of exertion on pushing baby out - "Nnnnnngggggh!".

She did look authentically shit and knackered, though.

Dawn in Eastenders was pretty realistic and funny! Went into labour on the tube and threw up in her handbag :)

star trek tng has a realistic birth where keiko o brian goes into labour with worf (a klingon) guiding her he hands her her baby with cord still attached covered in goo it is in the episode called disaster watch it is also funny

Got to be "only Fools and Horses" when Damian was born. Sat there with my mother shaking her head stating what a lot of fuss she was making ~(Mum was very stoical). Just remember the countless screaming like a Hammer Horror film and lots of fuss. Awful. I agree that Juno was a good representation and of course that advert where the mother just goes ooh! and delivers the baby!!!!! Seriously it's got to be Juno and One Born Every Minute for me!!!

I agree with Peep Show being realistic as well, love that show! :)

I had forgotten about ER actually, I do remember the scenes of Carol giving birth to twins as being very realistic. She laughed and complained and cried, as we all do, and convincingly portrayed being in a lot of pain until the anaesthesiologist gave her an epidural (which again was very realistic, with Carol unable to stay still during contractions and Mark trying to calm her down) then she started declaring her love for him! Very realistic It was a believably slow labour with a very well done and scary bit towards the end where she began haemmorhaging and had to have a crash section. I have to say that episode always stayed with me.

I remember Dorothy from Men Behaving Badly giving birth on all fours and Deborah just rubbing her back rather than trying to make out she knew when she should push etc.

Worst for me was Jennifer Anniston again in Marley and Me when she comes home from the hospital having given birth and is wearing a white sundress and immediately crouches right down to Marley. No danger of her splitting her stitches over her teeny white dress then?!

Amelie has a (very brief) crowning shot, right near the beginning. I saw Knocked Up on a plane so it was cut (wouldn't want to scare the narrow-minded idiots kiddies, eh?).

Marking my place mostly. However, a candidate for shite is the last season of Bones, with Angela and Hodgins, where they find a moment between contractions, while the baby's head is crowning, to have a lovey-dovey moment and the doc, instead of puking, stops what she's doing to tell them reverently they'll be wonderful parents.

It's the bumps that get me most - they go from lovely slim figures, to lovely slim figures with big boobs, to neat bumps. I take it this is entirely realistic and I need not expect anything else to swell up? Good!

Anyone seen Kate Winslet's birth scene in Jude the Obscure?

Now that really was way too much information.

I read that the director of Knocked Up wanted to use real life footage of a birth, but wasn't allowed to for some reason. And the actress originally lined up for Heigl's role pulled out because she thought it would be in poor taste.

I don't think I've ever seen a screen birth where the woman wasn't on her back. Happy to be proved wrong!

I always thought in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves that Morgan Freeman performed a caesarean with his sword? Then I?m pretty sure the woman is up and dancing 5 minutes later, then gets involved in a skirmish. No pain/stitches bursting etc.

In an episode of Sharpe, when Harper's woman gives birth with only some riflemen to attend her, the bookish guy keeps saying she should be on her back because that's what the doctors advise, while the ex-farmer tells him that if she wants to be on her hands and knees then that's how she'll be!

It's the only not-on-her-back birth scene I can remember seeing in anything but I certainly remembered it ever since!

Worst birth scene ever - Arnold Scharwzenegger in Junior, although it is a rare example of a CS in film.

I agree with MrsTittleMouse that the birth scene in A Cock and Bull Story was very realistic (and quite traumatic).

This has been a bugbear of mine for ages. Screen births hardly ever look realistic. The best one I've seen was in Gavin and Stacey because it was all fours, which is the position women tend to get into from choice if they're giving birth naturally. I agree that all three of the births in Friends were ridiculous. I was also peed off at an episode of Ashes to Ashes where a woman was giving birth out in the open without medical assistance - she was lying down. No-one chooses to lie down! It goes completely against your instinct.

Not yet given birth but even I know that all the Friends births are ridiculous!

Also Fizz (aka worst actress in the world Jennie McAlpine) in Coronation Street who just does a bit of teeth clenching and then the baby is out.

Similarly Maria in Coronation Street who gave birth in a van on a beach or something - my mum turned to me and said "giving birth is NOT like that, I promise you" (because I was still firmly in the "you are never getting grandchildren mother, because I am not going through childbirth" camp)

lol i love this topic! I have yet to have my baby (1st one) but common sense just tells you the ones on telly aren't going to be like that! Although i do like that bit on peep show where Sophie has an examination and goes 'i didn't expect her to put her whole hand in there!' and dh then going 'they actually do that?!' lol

RedRuby YES, I remember Kate having a rough time in Jude...

interestingly, another of Michael Winterbottom's films, Wonderland, has a very realistic birth scene (Molly's) - very NHS, I thought

It was Up the Junction - doesn't she end up stuck in a motorcyle side car ?