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

Tante

Kate with her legs akimbo and a shot of the crowning.

Gimme Friends any day.

The birth of the twins in Friends where they didn't know it was twins and have a brief and hilarious (not) disagreement before deciding to take them both.

Somebody mentioned 9 Months - my all-time most irritating film. And the birth scene is awful.

And Sex in the City - that one made me and DH laugh for ages afterwards.

There was a scary one in that nuclear war drama, was it Threads? A teenage girl gives birth to a deformed baby in a makeshift hospital, 14 years after the whole country has been nuked. The only thing is, despite the girl herself having been born after the apocalypse, when she screams you can see her fillings.

'no-one chooses to lie down'

I did.

I enjoyed the one in Coupling where she told him he had to make her ask him three times before he let her ask for pain relief and was going to do it all on breathing deeply. Then punched him when he didnt get her pain relief after the 2nd request. Maybe not realistic but I always remember how hard I laughed.

Is there an example from TV/film where someone's waters have broken and they've actually stopped to change clothes/get a maternity pad/leave a big wet patch, etc before proceeding to hospital?

Rachel in Friends and Charlotte in SATC just said "My waters just broke!" and went on their way. If I'd done that, I'd have destroyed every carpet in the house and all the unholstery in the car!

I think Raquel's in Only Fools and Horses was quite realistic. Heard a lot of screaming like that when I was in mat. hosp.

E.R - last series I think. Women brought in, in labour with twins, some complications, cant remember what. Anyway the twins are fine but the mother dies later after C section. Whilst watching this I didn't feel too well, got up to go to the bathroom and passed out on the floor. Never passed out before and was watching it about 5 years after having my own twins!

The natural birth on that very old film Blue Lagoon was okay as was Nessa birthing on all fours...otherwise tend to be very unrealistic!

I knew a woman whose waters broke in the middle of a supermarket aisle. She was so mortified she smashed a jar of pickles over the top of it and ran out.

How has 'One born a minute' not been mentioned on this thread, have you noticed that most the births on there seem to be edited for maximum drama and most of the boring bits and calm births edited out. The cesarean rate on that show must be 75% not the 25% country average. Oh and all the birthing mothers are flat on their back surely I'm not the only mum that's heard of Active birth? I know these were real births but it feels the media has chopped them to confirm to the sterotype of all the rubbish births you've mentioned above. That's why for me they have to be the scariest birth viewing of all.

What's birth really like in the USA, well only 7% of the population has heard of what a midwife is, recommend Rikki Lakes, documentary Business of Being Born, if you'd really like to know.

Rant over, and out.

I agree about the Peep Show by the way, I thought that was pretty realistic. I love it when David Mitchell explains to Robert Webb what an episiotomy is. First he has to describe what the perineum is, and the Robert Webb character says, "Yeah, that's one of my favourite bits."

The birth episode in Dr Quinn MW was on the other day. She gave birth leaning against a tree. (Not very realistic acting though.)

Peep Show was good with the labouring on all fours on the bed. Juno is pretty good too except the part where they freak out when she goes into labour and all run out of the house as if it's on fire!

All the ER births are great IMO - especially liked Corday coming in all ready to go and then having to go home again rather embarrassed because it was just Braxton Hicks.

I dream of a TV show where a heavily pg woman looks at her husband and says "darling - it's time", and the next scene has her on the phone to the midwife in between contractions being told to take two paracetomol and ring back in three hours - cue long scenes of doing the ironing and having baths.

I'm sure Krystal Carrington on Dynasty gave birth in her tights.

The birth scene in Coupling was quite good - the woman who has unrealistic hippy expectations of birth who then screams for an epidural when faced with the real thing is a terrible comedy cliche but it's not exactly unheard of. What I didn't like is that her joy when the epidural kicked in was played as if she were drugged, which is just stupid, the whole point is that you remain clear headed.

By contrast I love Carole in ER's interchange with one of the nurses:
"Will you promise to thank the epidural man for me?"
"He's called an anaesthetist Carole"
"He'll always be the epidural man to me"

How about Uncle Bryn standing up in the background and saying something along the lines of 'I think that's 4 fingers'

I agree about Peep Show being v realistic, especially the bit where Mark accidentally ends up in KFC, my DH disappeared for fish and chips thankfully in the hospital canteen, but a friend's DH went to Mcdonalds!

As for the least realistic, if only it could be as easy as .

MinnieBar .. that's how my labour was.. along with the Sonia aspect!! We were talking about our birth stories at babyclub today and I honestly couldnt join in with the horror stories! Very quick labour (by the time the hospital realised what was happening to me); bit of gas and air, and 2 pushes!

I hated the prenancy etc in knocked up.. as OP says, way too clinical! I did however love Bens birth in friends!

A different Daphne, the one in Frasier, when she gives birth in a vets office, with the tiniest splash of waters breaking and then a labour that lasts about two minutes.

Not only that, but the baby's father, Niles, who is supposed to be the worlds biggest clean-freak, comes out of the delivery room nursing a monkey that he's feeding with a baby bottle. He can't even sit on a cafe chair without cleaning it first so what happened to his germ-phobia that he would allow his wife to give birth next to a monkey?

And I did not like the stillbirth Maria had in Coronation Street, I found that very unrealistic when compared to our own experiences.

Anything to tell us, ruby?

You 'knew a woman'?

All time crap birth - yes, Daphne from neighbours. Saw it a couple of months after my eldest was born and started yelling at the telly. Not only did she not take her tights off, but it was delivered by her neighbour whilst out on a picnic. Also remember Lacey (from Cagney and Lacey) delivering Cagney's baby while they were stuck in traffic. Good births - the Threads birth has already been mentioned, but Michelle from Eastenders birth was very good too and lasted an entire episode of clearly painful contractions (and scared me because we were the same age). Also the first series of Cold Feet featured that woman who does the Tesco adverts giving birth whilst wearing a merkin (pubic wig) - v good and also v funny.

I agre about ER and Carole in particular. The way she was contracting and not noticing because she had so much backache and then waters break and it's baby time shortly thereafter is exactly what happened to a friend of mine recently.

Ruth's birth with Ben on the Archers was a good one - stuck at home, midwife on the way and a good bit of yelling. Baby delivered by farmer dad.

Another vote for Dorothy in Men Behaving Badly as best, because she (an HCP) was on all fours in a mainstream, prime time programme.

I had DD1 and DD2 on my back out of choice... I moved around earlier in the labour but gave birth on my back, DD2 was back to back and the best way to get her out turned out to be flat on my back with legs akimbo - the mcroberts manouvere. 'active birth' isn't always the best way to get them out!

RobynLou: Not saying it is - just glad that of the many, many medicalised births shown, there is an example which shows there are positions other than lying down.