A comment on OBEM and editing....

[working9while5]

My friend was due in LGI when they were filming, and was approached many times during midwife appointments to see if she would like to participate.

One of the things that was made very clear to her was that participating parents would have a high degree of editorial control, and would be able to ask for portions to be edited out and/or refuse and withdraw at any point.

I am seeing a lot of threads where people feel that the mothers are very calm/stoical etc in labour but remember what a small portion this really is of something that may have been 10, 20, 30, 40 hours overall. It may very well be that some of the mothers who seemed calmest were screaming and swearing to high heaven at various points but asked to have this edited out, and some of the mothers who have been castigated for being a bit "wet" about it didn't exercise as much editorial control because they didn't feel (and rightly so!) that being in pain or scared in labour was something to feel ashamed about.

It might be real life, but it's still "only" a programme in terms of how it can really reflect reality.

(PS I'm not saying this is the case, simply that we don't know.. so it's best not to feel bad about it or think it is a very accurate portrayal of the experience of birth).

Yes, it always seems to be that one of the mums is doing it all really easily, quietly, naturally and the other is a screaming banshee who is totally out of control. The juxtaposition of the two is bound to set up a competitive edge and the judgements about who is doing it 'better'.

In reality most of us are probably a mix of both, but this is TV - its there as entertainment, so I suppose they want to show the extremes and this will inevitably mean editing it to show what they want to portray.

Anyone agreeing to be filmed by proper camera crews during one of the most vulnerable and intimate moments of their life probably accepts that it will be 'warts and all', so doesn't feel the need to have the final editing decision.

I am always surprised at how many people take everything they see on reality programmes at face value.
I'm not saying I never make initial judgements about how people come across, but lots of people I speak to seem to get so worked up about how someone they have watched 20 mins of is portrayed.