House of The Dragon childbirth scene

[ReeseWitherfork]

(Sorry if this has been discussed, couldn’t see it anywhere?)

Anyone else find the childbirth scene just too much? A quick google tells me the producers apparently showed it to the women in their lives who said it needed to be more traumatic if anything. Important to show how horrific and dangerous childbirth can be. Especially with Roe v Wade etc.

So part of me thinks I’m burying my head in the sand for not being able to stomach it. But a bigger part of me thinks I know how the dangers of childbirth and I don’t want to see it messed about with for entertainment purposes. Such a detailed scene seems distastefully “shock value” and nothing more.

Any thoughts or opinions?

I had to turn it off (I’m pregnant and it made me really anxious).

I think there’s no problem with showing medieval type realities of birth, and it is messy and unpredictable and scary, even now.

But it felt glamourised and I hated that the woman died in terror not knowing what was about to happen/happening. It felt like it was a shock value thing.

I’m not sure what it says about me personally that I was able to gleefully watch some knight get his face smashed in but I had to watch the childbirth scene through my fingers.

Certainly was very graphic.

I read something a while back (I think when that junior maternity doctor show was on the telly) about how much TV and film has to answer for in terms of scaring women around childbirth. I’m sure there was some actual research done into it, but annoyingly I wouldn’t know where to start with searching for it. TV essentially causing anxiety because it constantly shows childbirth as nothing but horrific with very few positive birth stories.

So just wanted to remind you of that hearing you say you’re anxious. I found childbirth quite an empowering event both times. Good luck 💕

I’m torn, it was extremely graphic. On the other hand it is a Game of Thrones prequel so not sure I should have expected anything less.

I don't know - it did emphasise the risk and sacrifice women take/make. A female body without the focus on being sexy for once in this franchise.

Still, it wasn't a documentary, so it was a very conscious choice to show that and the reasons for shock and gore in entertainment are never wholesome!

I didn't mind it. I had a section without anaesthetic (or milk of the poppy) so it just made me glad I did it in the UK in the 21st century and not in Westeros. And it added more to the story than the brothel scenes.

It’s important to remember though that this is a fantasy show, set in a world which is mostly medieval. No where in the UK is anyone going to hold a woman down and rip her baby from her belly without anaesthesia etc.

Weirdly the birth scene hasn’t provoked much conversation on the more general series thread, here:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4597272-house-of-the-dragon?reply=119485584

I too watched it through my fingers, with the sound down to almost mute. But it seemed firmly fixed in its own context - we have anaesthetics and advanced midwifery and surgery now, so its power to shock was limited.

Well that’s true… I don’t recall being affected by molten gold crowns, crossbows on the toilet, eye gauging… or even seeing a pregnant woman stabbed in the abdomen! Why was I so uneasy with this?!

Can you link to the scene?

But it happened.
It's there in the historical record.
Men were often asked "who do we save?"
It's not nice, but I think its important that we remember the countless women who were butchered in the name of heirs/succession.
By all means fast forward it but to say it shouldn't be shown?
No.
That's what the off switch is for.

Not to mention graphic rape scenes and incest. It’s not a franchise known for playing things safe.

It was distressing as fuck but I didn't think it was too much. It was real life for many many women.

I found it hard but also childbirth if flipping dangerous and traumatic in almost all world for almost all of history (and now, in the UK for some of us still, sadly). So on balance I applaud it being shown in its horrific details.

Yuck; just watched it on YouTube (thanks OP!) and it was horrid. As a childfree non parent I will never have to go through this- thank fuck. Childbirth- like snakes and the dark- is one of my worst fears in life and I’m in awe of those of you that do go through this 💪

I know the female body can do this obvs!

Trying to rack my brain to remember what bothered me in GoT. Sansa’s rape did, and weirdly the girl from Hollyoaks being locked in a vault alive did. There must have been others.

I know it was reality. I think that’s why I’m conflicted. Just because it was a reality doesn’t mean we need to see it for “entertainment” purposes. It doesn’t take much in the way of editing tactics for the audience to know what happened without having to see it. As I say though, not made up my mind on it, I just feel conflicted.

TV essentially causing anxiety because it constantly shows childbirth as nothing but horrific with very few positive birth stories

gosh I don’t think that’s true. The vast majority of births I’ve seen on tv are basically - waters break , a period of contractions, a period of pushing and the baby out and it’s all pain free happy faces and cuddles.

my experience of Labour and birth is much more drawn out. And I was in more pain after delivery than before. I couldn’t bare to hold either of my children immediately afterwards. I was in too much pain either delivering the placenta or being stitched up.

I couldn't watch it. I also didn't like the Knight stuff though. The childbirth scene pushed me over the edge, I had a strop and left the room.

I think this is where trigger warnings come in really useful. I found the scene deeply upsetting, as the programme makers intended, with good intentions I believe. But if I'd seen it when pregnant and anxious, or in the immediate aftermath of my own safe but traumatic EMCS, it would have been harmfully distressing.

Apparently the scriptwriters' intention was that Viserys was just given the choice between killing Aemma to save the baby or losing both, and that he wasn't given the option of killing the baby to save Aemma. But that wasn't made clear in what we saw on screen, and it makes a huge difference to his character.

I found it difficult to watch. I had a massive bleed after my emergency section. If I hadn't been pumped with blood and rushed back to theatre I would have died. It certainly brought back some unpleasant memories!

Ive never watched game of thrones but im so glad i never seen this, i cant even watch someone getting vaccinated on telly never mind this😮

I turned it off when some bloke got his genitals cut off in like the first 20 min and told my DH that I was not on cool with a disgusting dehumanizing shit feast. To bad because I enjoy the fantasy/adventure elements. The show makes me wonder if wtf is wrong with us tbh 🤷‍♀️

The vast majority of births I’ve seen on tv are basically - waters break , a period of contractions, a period of pushing and the baby out and it’s all pain free happy faces and cuddles.
Ah see I feel like all I see is screaming in pain. Not to this extent obviously!

I had a strop and left the room.
A woman after my own heart! This is probably what I should have done. Putting a pillow over my eyes didn’t stop the sound. And then DH wouldn’t have had to deal with my monologue about it afterwards.

Apparently the scriptwriters' intention was that Viserys was just given the choice between killing Aemma to save the baby or losing both, and that he wasn't given the option of killing the baby to save Aemma. But that wasn't made clear in what we saw on screen, and it makes a huge difference to his character.

After watching Ep1 I kept going over the fact that if she had not said what she said in the bath - about being done with childbirth after this pregnancy - she might have lived. The way the scene was played meant that she essentially signed her own death warrant.

The first part resonated with me as I had torn very badly and bled over 2 litres of blood, and was laying there blissfully holding my baby. Kept asking the nurse "is that alright?" As I noticed she kept changing the bed pad which was dripping with blood, and they kept reassuring me it was fine. Ended up having to be put to sleep and stitched up in theatre. So glad we live in modern times!

Wasn't just reality in the past. Many women now in the developing world have horrific experiences, with zero qualified carers or medicines or equipment, resulting in very high maternal deaths through giving birth.