Childbirth comes in many varieties and often contradicts itself.
It can be beautiful and torturous, amazing and cruel, easy and devastating. If you’re unlucky, it can be all of these things, all at once.
As the title suggests, this fly-on-the-hospital-wall documentary tries to accentuate the positive.
Even so, it is a pretty emotional ride. There is a 72-hour labour, which is exhausting to contemplate, let alone endure.
There are flickers of comedy, such as the moment when mother-to-be Melissa starts getting the various elements of her birth plan together, and asks innocently: “How are you with didgeridoo music?”
Didgeridoo music, it turns out, is a pretty run-of-the-mill hazard for NHS maternity staff, whose jobs require them to treat the everyday miracle of childbirth as both a routine event and an experience to be treasured forever.
“Eviction notice has been served,” says midwife Mo Williams as the contractions quicken.
The star this week is Melissa, who at 44 is treating the imminent arrival of her second child as a “happy surprise”. We first meet her a week out from childbirth, during her final scan.
The baby, Bertie, appears to be sucking his thumb. A 3D scan offers an even more intimate likeness. “I can’t cry,” Melissa says. “My false eyelashes’ll come off.”
Bertie has Down’s Syndrome. “I don’t see this as something to be sad about,” Melissa says. “It’s just an extra chromosome, and that will make him extra special.”
Then, there’s Laura, who has an induced labour, three weeks early, because of the risk of sepsis. And Jen, who notices “that awful quiet” during her examination, moments before the emergency button is pressed.
There is, though, a sting in the tail. This episode is dedicated to consultant neonatologist Dr Vishna Rasiah, who died of Covid-19 in late April, aged 48.
Life and Birth is on BBC One at 8pm tonight
