One Born Every Minute

For Lydia (22) and Phil (22) a surprise pregnancy caused the couple to think long and hard about what they should do next. After finally telling her mother, whom she feared would frown on a baby born outside of marriage, Lydia is now looking forward to being a mum and has a natural water birth planned. Boyfriend Phil was at first reluctant to be a dad – he lived a party lifestyle and initially felt sad about saying goodbye to it. When the baby is due to arrive, Lydia’s squeamish elder sister Anna joins her and Phil in the birthing room. Soon, one of the women begins to feel nauseous, and it’s not the one you would expect. Tendayi (30) and Maxwell (42) decide laughter is the best way to endure a long labour. To pass the time, Maxwell reads to his wife from the Compendium of Fascinating Female Facts, small gems like: ‘British women would rather give up sex than chocolate’. Tendayi jokes she doesn’t know which she would choose. She’s hoping for a natural birth, “I just want to get on with it and push the baby out”, though the screams from other women giving birth soon begin to un-nerve her. Maxwell is hoping that when the baby does come, it will be the son he has always wanted. Meanwhile in a neighbouring room Kate (29) says, “I never thought babies would be on the cards.” She adds: “Being with Nick, who didn’t want children, I thought one day…I might be able to convince him to have cats”. Nick (35) explains: “I never wanted kids for a long time, but then one day something changed.” Now Nick and Kate await the birth of their first baby.

This week two couples deal with long and difficult labours in very different ways. One dad shows how humour can lift the sprits, whilst the other prefers to deliver rousing pep talks. Julia (31) and her partner Dean (29) are expecting their first child. After meeting online they exchanged phone numbers and became Facebook friends. Dean says he thought Julia was “lush”, adding, “it was the attraction that got me, her legs.” Julia says for her the draw was Dean’s personality although he maintains that it was his Swindonian accent that “knocked her bandy.” When Julia unexpectedly fell pregnant six months later, Dean moved from Swindon to Southampton to be with her. Both knew the pregnancy was going to be challenging as Julia was born with a major heart defect, and had the first of many heart operations when she was just ten days old. Once told her heart could not cope with the stress of pregnancy, she is kept under close medical supervision. When her spirits begin to flag, Dean supplies a healthy dose of humour. “You’ve got to breathe” he says “I haven’t seen you do it once yet.” Also about to deliver are Donna (30) and Wayne (33) expecting baby number two. Donna is apprehensive, her last labour lasted for days, and she fears she might be in for a repeat experience. Wayne keeps her positive. As he drives to the hospital, he calls back cheerfully to his wife as she winces with contractions, “this is what we need to happen.”

This week, one dad can’t be contacted as his girlfriend’s labour progresses, and another finds he has a crucial role to play after his wife’s birth plan takes an unexpected twist. And while one mum sings to keep herself calm, another finds that swearing is the best way to relieve the pressure. Polish-born Amelia (18) is in labour with her first baby, and as the contractions increase, so does the fruitiness of her language. Her mum, Dorota, is at her bedside providing support - but the baby’s father, Michal, is nowhere to be found. He’s not answering his phone and Amelia thinks he may asleep or out drinking with his friends. Inevitably, that’s not gone down well with Dorota. Providing male support is Amelia’s midwife, Christian. He’s one of only a few male midwives and says it’s seen as an unusual profession for a man (he adds that when he told his now-wife what he did, she assumed he was gay). Amelia and her mum simply assume that because he’s a man, he must be a doctor. As the labour intensifies, Christian and Dorota keep leaving messages for dad Michal - hoping that he might arrive in time to see his baby being born. In a nearby birthing room, Lucy has her husband James right by her side – just as well, as their plan for a natural third birth is about to take an unexpected turn. Lucy (37) used to sing soprano with the Vienna State Opera. She’s met Pavarotti a number of times and loves singing. Her baby is lying in an awkward position (transverse breech) and needs to be ‘turned’ before she can give birth naturally. While waiting for the procedure, Lucy’s been told she can’t eat or drink anything (“imagine telling a pregnant woman she can’t eat!” she says). This is baby number three; “the final one” says James firmly, as he tends to Lucy’s every need with endless trips to the car. First it’s her i-pod, then her v-shaped pillow, then her lip balm, her hairbrush and finally her tissues. James comes and goes like a yo-yo. In return Lucy regales him with tunes from Dirty Dancing and, when the doctors fail to turn to the baby, sings all the way to theatre to keep herself calm.

This week, the stakes are high for two older mums on the labour ward. For Julia this is a miracle baby, her first and possibly only child; for Sara it’s her third, and after a traumatic previous birth she is truly terrified. One Born returns to the story of Julia (31), born with a major heart defect and once told she’d never have a baby. Now the pregnancy of Julia and Dean’s ‘miracle baby’ is in its final stages and they are back at the Princess Anne Hospital. Dean and Julia use humour to deal with the stress of getting through labour and Julia’s added medical complications. “Look at the state you got me in you bastard!” says Julia. “Juju!” chides Dean taken aback, while Julia’s mum adds, “Dean, that’s only the start of it, my love.” One day before Julia’s due date her waters have broken, but as she’s not going into labour the midwives decide to induce her. They want both mum and baby to stay healthy, which means everything needs to happen swiftly. Sara (38) is expecting her third baby. She admits she’d like to get married, but it is “just a piece of paper and isn’t the be all and end all”, while her partner Mark offers up that “it costs more to get divorced!”. Instead he tells her that she’s “lovely all over”. After a traumatic first birth and an overwhelming fear of pain, Sara is scared of what will happen this time. Mark passes her gas and air, and says “meet your new best friend ‘Norman the Nozzle’”. But before long Sara is pleading for an epidural, or even a caesarean. The midwives try to restore her calm and discuss her case in the staff room. “Is it her first?” asks one. “No,” says Sara’s midwife. “Her third. She knows what’s coming.”

This week, three unconventional couples arrive to deliver their babies. One dad does all he can to support his wife through her carefully planned natal hypnotherapy birth; while another dad doesn’t even know labour has begun for his first born, as he’s locked behind bars. We also meet a young couple who defy those who tell them they’re too young to be starting a family. Sarah (21) wants a natural birth after a traumatic long labour and emergency c-section with her first baby, when she was just 17. This time she’s hoping for an easier time, but knows her partner Mark won’t be there to hold her hand. He’s in prison and still has a four months to serve. Sarah’s not sure how she’ll cope and as she frets that Mark doesn’t even know she’s in labour, the staff do all they can to get a message to him in prison. Meanwhile, Sarah’s mum and good friend Hayley do all they can to keep Sarah’s spirits up, and Hayley gets a liking for gas and air herself, especially when the midwives aren’t looking. In another birthing room Jennine (20) and her husband Tony (20) are keen to dispel preconceptions about young parents and share a vision for a happy family. “People say we’re too young” says Jennine, “but I’ve always felt something was missing – a baby. Now we’re married, once the baby’s here everything will be complete.” Tony adds, “So many people get divorced these days. We know what it feels like, it’s horrible. We want it to be a good family – like in the movies.” Also expecting their first baby is 25-year-old Sammy and 44-year old Paul. There may be a 19 year age gap “but you’d think it was the other way round” says Sammy. “I’m the mature one.” Sammy has opted for natal hypnotherapy birthing and her mum is leading the relaxation and talks her through the contractions. Paul needs to sort low lighting and mood music. “Labour should be the most natural thing in the world”, says Sammy, “if my body can make a baby, it can give birth to that baby.” But she does concede that while she wants to be as relaxed as possible, things might not go to plan. “I don’t know what I’m going to be like, I’m not naïve – it might not be perfect.” Husband Paul has been given his instructions to make it as perfect as possible. “Close the curtains; put the CD on; give me something to smell; offer me small snacks and drinks; don’t talk about anything else unless I encourage it.” “It makes me sound bossy – I’m not bossy am I?” asks Sammy. “Oh, no”, replies Paul dutifully. So well versed is Sammy’s support team in adhering to her birth plan that when she finally pleads for pain relief, her mum refuses to let her deviate from the natural water birth she wanted.

This week an older mum and a teen mum approach childbirth in very different ways. Hayley decides laughter is the best medicine and jokingly refers to herself as a ‘geriatric mum’ at 37, while teenager Kaycey, is determined to have a natural birth, and screams with the pain. When first admitted Kaycey (17) is in very early labour “admitting a fingertip and screaming the house down” as midwife Amy Bisson puts it. She adds that “midwifery is challenging anyway, but teenagers just add a little edge to that.” Kaycey’s partner David (21) says that Kaycey is vocal at the best of times and will be a “screaming” in labour or, as his mum puts it, “hell in the delivery room.” Kaycey and David are now looking forward to the birth of their son, but they had a rocky road to start. After having a casual relationship for just a month, they parted ways. Then Kaycey found out she was pregnant – but David felt they weren’t ready for a baby and that they couldn’t manage it financially. Kaycey knew all along that she wanted to have the baby and now nine months on, David is willingly at her side waiting for his son to be born. He declares that he “wants to cut the umbilical cord and set him free – after all, he’s been stuck with her for nine months!” Meanwhile John (40) says that the moment he met Hayley (37) he knew he’d found his soul mate. Hayley agrees that it’s been like a fairytale since she met John. In a short amount of time she’s gone from thinking she’d always be on her own, to becoming a step-mother to John’s two children and now to having a baby of her own. In the delivery room Hayley is bubbly and funny, cracking jokes between contractions. In fact, she’s on such good form that her midwife says: “You do realise you’ll be lulling loads of women into a false sense of security? You’re six centimetres and look how happy you are!”

This week features the uplifting stories of two courageous mums, both overcoming their worst fears. Sophia is having twins - but a scan has shown up a problem with one of them meaning it will have to go to Special Care as soon as it’s born. And mum-of-one Hayley is about to give birth for the fourth time, having experienced the trauma of a newborn baby dying and then a stillbirth. Both mums are now waiting to deliver their babies, and are hoping for the best. First time mum Sophia (20) met Adam (22) at school when she was 13 and he was 15, and they’ve been together ever since. After being very ill for two weeks, Sophia took a pregnancy test which came up negative – until she read the instructions and did the test at the correct time of day. The first scan showed they were having twins, “the biggest shock of the whole thing” Sophia says. A further scan showed one twin has a condition called Gastroschisis causing the stomach to grow on the outside of the stomach. It means that the baby will have to go into special care immediately after birth. Hayley (37) and Norm (36) both agreed they wanted a large family. Hayley says they were really lucky when she quickly fell pregnant with Rio, now 3. But their second baby Phoebe was born with a rare brain condition and despite fighting for her life for five weeks, she died. When Hayley fell pregnant for a third time, with Cooper, she says she didn’t worry about the brain condition that claimed Phoebe’s life, as it was so rare. But at 29 weeks, Cooper stopped moving. Hayley’s placenta had failed - “still birth has to be my worst nightmare. You’re pregnant and then they’re gone.” Understandably pregnancy is an unbearably anxious time for her and her husband. Hayley says she sees it as a “clinical procedure”, adding: “it must be nice to be pregnant and worry about swollen feet and back-ache rather than, is my baby going to die.”

In this episode an Amber Alert is declared at the Princess Anne Maternity Hospital. They are inundated with mothers in labour and are running out of beds. Three women with complications add to the drama. Head of Midwifery, Maria Dore, speculates that the harsh winter, with lots of snow, has led to an extremely busy September, nine months later. When Hayley (26) met Godfrey (35) she says she knew he was the one for her. He’s boisterous but good-natured, and enjoys playing computer games and eating fish and chips during his wife’s painful labour. Despite his jokes, Godfrey is missing his father, who died recently, and with the impending birth of his own child, the death of his dad is hitting home. Hayley has polycystic ovary syndrome so she knew the chances of conceiving were reduced. Now she’s happy to be in the final stages of pregnancy. But the staff are closely monitoring her high blood pressure. She says she’s no good with pain and that she cries when she has her legs waxed. “You’ll be wailing like a banshee my love,” chuckles Godfrey. Hayley wants an epidural, but on a frantically busy night at the Princess Anne she has no choice but to wait her turn for pain relief, and Godfrey’s at a loss as to what he should do. Amy (27) is outwardly cheerful but her previous four conceptions all resulted in miscarriages. Her partner Jordan (29) explains that this is the furthest along for a pregnancy Hayley’s been, and they are constantly worried something might go wrong. “It’s been tough” he adds. When Amy’s labour starts with some bleeding she’s understandably anxious and only reassured by listening to the baby’s heart beat monitor. Finally, when the hospital is at one of its busiest times for beds, Claire (24) arrives to have her second baby and she also has raised blood pressure. There are too many labours starting with too few midwives and anaesthetists available. But you can’t choose when your baby decides to appear.

This week on One Born Every Minute, two mums want natural births - but will one petite young mum be able to push out a big baby and will an overweight mum suffer from the risks associated with weight during pregnancy? Oakley (18) has been with her partner Dave (33) for a year – she fell pregnant after they’d been together for a couple of months. Oakley was delighted and Dave says he immediately decided to turn his life around: “I’ve always been a bit of a loose cannon, I’m known for getting in trouble and I can’t have all that with the baby around.” Oakley’s parents think Dave has been a bad influence on their daughter, but Oakley hopes that, once the baby arrives, they’ll give Dave a chance. For now she’s asked them not to come to the birth because she’d prefer to avoid an atmosphere in the delivery room. When Oakley is nine days overdue she’s induced, but the midwives are concerned about how big the baby seems to be and whether she’ll be able to deliver it naturally, “I’m having nightmares over the size of that baby”, says one midwife. Also on the ward is Carol (35), who says she is “on the larger size” and was warned of the risk of health implications such as pre-eclampsia and diabetes. She’s relieved that the pregnancy has gone smoothly and she is “now just looking forward to meeting him or her”. But Kevin (36), who Carol met at school, is less relaxed - “You go through the pain, I go through the nervousness, the wait”, he says. The initial excitement about being a dad has given way to anxiety: “The only other time I’ve been nervous is Cup Finals,” he says, adding, “And then you can have a few beers to calm down.” That’s not an option here and when Carol is taken to theatre, Kevin’s too anxious to accompany her. Carol’s sister Jackie steps in, while Kevin paces the corridor, waiting for news.

This week on One Born Every Minute it’s all about family. From building a big family, as one couple are expecting their fifth baby and wanting more - to a shrinking family, as an expectant mum deals with the loss of her father, to the emotional rollercoaster of a man who was adopted watching his first son being born. Mum of four Louisa (32) and David (38) have known each other for nearly twenty years – they met in the youth club when Louisa was 13. They’re expecting their fifth baby boy. Louisa jokes, “As they say, you’ve got to be a man to produce a girl.” which they both find hilarious. “I think we always knew I’d be a breeding machine,” Louisa adds, “I love the hustle and bustle of a family home.” Although it’s Louisa’s fifth delivery, the midwives explain, it doesn’t necessarily get easier the more babies you have – as Louisa is discovering. David says, “There is a time and a place to keep your mouth shut and when your other half is trying to push out a baby…that is the time to keep your mouth shut.” David thinks they should stick at five children but Louisa is not sure. “I think you should have even numbers, so that means six!”. Expecting their first are a young, financially strapped couple. Colin (21) says they have always been “quite down with money” and that he never thought they’d have the cash to raise a child. Suzanne (20) and Colin were ‘sofa-surfing’ when they found out she was pregnant, but have now found somewhere to live. To transport their belongings, and a growing Suzanne, Colin found a bicycle with a trailer on ebay. Now they travel with Colin pedalling the bike, towing a heavily pregnant Suzanne. “It’s technically called a luggage trailer,” says Colin, before adding, “well, you are luggage – sort of.” Becoming a dad has prompted Colin to reflect on the fact that he was adopted. Although he knows who his birth mother is, he hasn’t yet met her and as the birth draws near, can’t imagine putting his own son up for adoption. Another couple, Rosie (27) and Johnny (34) are also expecting their first baby. Rosie says she doesn’t know what she’ll be like in labour but is hoping that “mind over matter” will help her cope with the pain. She would like a waterbirth and is packing her swimsuit, “just in case”. They haven’t decided on a name for their baby yet; Rosie likes fairies and is pushing for Bluebell as a middle name – Johnny counters that he likes Beer, but isn’t suggesting this as a name for the baby. Johnny is Rosie’s “rock” and helped her through the loss of her father, and while Rosie is sanguine about the loss – “one life begins and another one ends” - she’s upset that her baby will never meet her maternal grandfather and is missing her dad terribly.

The series finale features extraordinary images of premature babies being delivered by Caesarean section. Caroline and Chris Pike are expecting triplets, but one of them is much smaller than his brothers. There’s a risk he could die, and endanger the lives of his brothers. Caroline is told that she is to be booked in for a Caesarean section at seven months: the triplets will be more than two months premature. But, 48 hours before the triplets’ planned delivery, one of the babies is in distress. The staff have 30 minutes to deliver the triplets. Husband Chris is at their home, 90 miles away: a journey that can take up to four hours. Meanwhile, Sarah and Nando are expecting their first baby, but when monitoring picks up that the baby’s heartbeat is dipping, Sarah is booked in for an emergency Caesarean. It’s an emotional time for both sets of parents as they cope with the trauma of emergency deliveries. And then there’s the shock of seeing their babies in neonatal, where they’re separateed by a plastic box from the parents who desperately want to hold them.