Emma Willis: Delivering Babies (2018) s03e04 Episode Script
Season 3, Episode 4
1
On 23rd March, 2020,
the UK went into lockdown following
the coronavirus outbreak.
BORIS JOHNSON: You must stay at
home.
So we can protect the NHS's ability
to cope and save more lives.
And while the medics on the front
line worked tirelessly to
protect the nation
Red, yeah she's red.
..maternity units up and down the
country played an equally important
role.
BEEP
36, 9.
The one thing that is an absolute
definite is that
babies are going to keep being born.
You know, you can't stop
childbirth during the pandemic.
In this extraordinary series,
filmed during lockdown, television
presenter, mother-of-three and fully
qualified maternity care assistant
Emma Willis
DEEP BREATH
That's it, well done.
..is going to find out just what
it's like to be pregnant
It's been a testing pregnancy,
hasn't it?
..and give birth during these
remarkable times.
Gloves and mask.
Reaching out to parents to
be across the UK
Hi. Oh, I can't hear you.
..she'll get to know them
virtually
Hello. How are you? Good, thank you.
How has lockdown been?
Interesting.
..before asking them to turn
the camera on themselves
Right, let's get ready for the
action.
..and share the stress
I'm nervous, if I'm honest.
I found it really
difficult to leave her.
I don't know why.
..the drama
SHE CRIES
Good.
BABY CRIES
Can you get me a Resucitaire?
..and the wonder
Oh, the joy of a cry.
..of bringing new life into the
world in the midst of a pandemic.
She's perfect.
Oh, my gosh.
Just in the nick of time.
Look at that little face.
And once restrictions are eased
Hi! Hi!
..Emma will travel to meet
the families in person
She's beautiful. Hi, Harry.
..to find out how they're getting
on.
Oh, hello!
I don't know what
I'm more excited about, actually,
meeting a new baby or being
out of the house.
With lockdown restrictions
still in place,
Emma is connecting to parents-to-be
up and down the country remotely.
Have you enjoyed talking to people
remotely? I've really enjoyed it.
You know, we are in the house
and we need to stay in the house,
and we can't be going out
and mixing with people.
It's really nice to have that
connection with somebody, whether
they're kind of down the road or
at the other side of the country.
I'm a doer, I like to be active
and to do something,
and there's only
so much washing you can do in a day.
The first couple Emma will be
speaking to are expecting their
first child.
They have sent in a short
introduction video.
I'm Matt and I am 29.
I'm Emma Jane. I am 27.
We've been together for about ten
and a half years.
We've been married for four years
We've got nappies in here.
.and been trying for
a baby for three years.
We've got baby wipes.
And we are now 37 weeks
pregnant with our little
rainbow baby after unfortunately
having two miscarriages.
We got this three years ago
when we were first pregnant,
cos we're all huge Harry Potter
fans.
It's got a time turner.
I thought there was
a snitch on there somewhere
but I'm not sure.
Lockdown is so, so much harder
and more emotional
because we've waited so long for
him and we have lost two babies.
So, this is our little Moses basket.
I've been waiting for three
years to use this.
It's been tough missing
out on things like baby groups
and pregnancy groups that I wanted
to go to because of Covid-19.
Today's Emma Jane's baby yoga day.
Has started doing it online.
But I'm hoping by the time he grows
up, this'll be all in the past
and it will have some
sort of normality back.
With hospital visiting
restrictions now in place,
Matt isn't allowed to go with Emma
Jane to her antenatal appointments.
Bye. Love you.
I'll just wait here.
So, it's a little bit sad that
I get to miss these things.
But as long as the baby's OK.
Emma Jane is already at full-term
with her pregnancy.
Hello? Hi!
How are you doing?
Yeah, good. Just bored of waiting
now.
I bet. It's nice to virtually
meet you both. Hi. You too.
I know you're overdue,
but how many days?
Ten days over.
Doesn't want to come out to the
coronavirus. It's staying in.
Social distancing from the world.
Yeah. Absolutely, yeah.
So there's been no
conversations about induction?
They have mentioned it and I've said
I do want to avoid it if possible.
But obviously, I just want to make
sure the baby's safe. Yeah.
When you have waited so long,
though, it doesn't matter, does it?
Yeah.
As long as everything
goes to the way we want it,
Emma Jane and the baby are going
to come home and then it's just
And that's it, isn't it? It's
thinking of the positives.
Yeah, yeah.
And how are you
feeling about giving birth?
Obviously I've never done it before,
so I could be being really naive,
but we've done hypnobirthing and
it's really educated me as to what
to expect and why things happen.
So, the actual birth,
I feel all right about it.
But it's the fact that Matt's not
going to be able to be with me
the whole time.
Like, if I do end up having to be
induced, I've got to go in on my
own.
And then, what if he doesn't make it
in time?
That's the scary bit for me.
Everybody that I know that has done
hypnobirthing has loved it.
I think if you can get in that
headspace
and everything kind of goes to plan,
then it must be absolutely
wonderful.
Hopefully I can. Well, good luck.
And I'll be in touch again soon.
Nice to meet you. You too. You too.
Bye. Bye. Bye.
Emma Jane and Matt
seem pretty chill.
And maybe that's part
of the hypnobirthing, is properly
in their head and their approach
to it is quite calm and considered.
I can't wait to see them
with their little baby.
There are many ways to give birth.
They're just running the bath
now. And then I'm going to jump in.
And many women write down how
they would like their labour to
unfold in a birth plan.
They're incredibly important.
As a woman, it gives you a focus
and makes you feel like you
are doing it, even if you do have
outside help from other people,
if that is what is necessary.
Definite thumbs up to hypnobirthing,
and sort of being able to
stay in control of everything.
Now, birth plans are brilliant
if they go the way you want
it to go.
I was ten centimetres,
my waters went.
She was out within ten minutes.
However, babies don't
necessarily have the same birth plan
as the mother, so sometimes a birth
plan will go out the window
and that is OK, too,
because you can't predict a birth.
Much like you can't predict
a pandemic.
So it's great
if you can be adaptable.
Emma's next call is to
a second-time mother-to-be
whose birth plan includes
a water birth.
Hello, my name is Sammy,
I am 29 years old.
I live with my husband
and my three-year-old son, Harry,
in a little village outside
of Lincoln.
Sunning yourself there.
And I am currently 40 weeks pregnant
today with baby number two.
Not long now! Are we excited?
Yeah, yeah, yeah!
I have found myself, unfortunately,
pregnant in the middle
of a pandemic,
right in the middle of a lockdown
which, honestly, hasn't been
the most ideal experience.
What happened to your train?
He broke!
HARRY CHATTERING
This is just like all day,
every day, this noise.
This isn't how I pictured
maternity leave.
I thought, "I'll have a couple
of weeks of peace
"before the baby's born." Rawrr!
No peace for me.
Now I'm covered in stickers.
They're all up my back as well.
Thanks, baby. I love stickers.
What do you think
about the nasty cough?
Bad. Bad. Yeah.
And do you think it'll go away soon?
Yeah! We hope so, don't we?
Yeah. Yeah.
I need to sort out these.
These are my hospital bags.
Because of the pandemic,
the hospital are saying that we
can only have one bag.
I understand cos it's trying
to minimise contamination
by having less bags around,
which does make sense,
but it's going to be a nightmare.
Just purchased this little vest,
which says
"Eenie Weenie Quaranteenie,
born in 2020, Mummy bossed it."
It's something we can keep forever
and remind her of the time
that she was born in.
Hi. Hello. How are you doing?
You all right?
Yeah, I'm good, thank you.
Yeah, really good. Good.
Tell me about challenges
you've faced
with being pregnant during
the pandemic.
There's so many things.
Like, there's the worry of catching
the virus because, at one point,
they were saying that pregnant
women were at risk.
I've missed out on my baby shower.
I know that sounds really trivial,
but it's little things like that.
With Harry, our first-born,
it's like we were going to go to
the theatre and that got cancelled
and that was supposed to be our last
little mummy-son date.
Yeah, it's nowhere near what
I expected it was going to be like.
It's just
Yeah, it's not what I'd planned
at all.
What are your kind of
biggest concerns
for after you've had the baby,
would you say?
Um Breast-feeding is one thing
that I've been
so passionate about all the way
through my pregnancy.
I really, really want
to breast-feed,
and I'm worried that there's not
going to be the right support there.
I want to be able to have people
come around and check that I'm doing
it right
and I don't know whether we're going
to be able to do that or whether
it's all going to be online.
I know I need to research
it a little bit more
as to what help is out there.
Did you breast-feed your son?
No, I didn't breast-feed
Harry, no,
so it's like a new experience
completely for me. Yeah.
Try and just get as much support
whilst you're in the hospital as
possible. Yeah.
Yeah, I'll be pestering them every
two minutes.
You should, you should.
"Is it right? Have another look.
Is it right?"
Make the most of it while I'm there.
Definitely.
Fantastic. Thank you,
and all the best.
Thank you very much.
Let's catch up soon.
Yeah, hopefully talk to you soon.
OK, take care, have a good day. Bye.
Sammy talked about really
wanting to breast-feed.
Huge!
She hadn't with her son
and she's anxious about it,
which I absolutely can relate to.
I think you get this idea in your
head that it's the easiest thing
in the world to do
because it's natural,
but it actually can be really
quite difficult.
And plus, we're in the middle
of a pandemic.
That's a massive worry in itself.
Hypnobirthing couple
Emma Jane and Matt
are making their way into hospital.
So I've been allowed in the room.
Almost two weeks overdue,
Emma Jane has just been induced.
With husband Matt by her side,
Emma Jane is in labour
and working through
her hypnobirth techniques.
SHE BREATHES DEEPLY
Aw.
SHE GROANS
But her labour isn't
progressing as it should be.
Oh!
And the medical team decide
to take her to theatre
for a Caesarean section.
The couple have suffered two losses
in the past,
so are understandably anxious.
So, unfortunately, all of Emma
Jane's plan has fallen apart
due to unforeseen circumstances,
so she's just gone down
for a C-section,
so I'm just waiting to be
taken down as well.
Matt can join Emma Jane in theatre,
but can't film the birth.
Thankfully, it's a
straightforward procedure,
and it's not long before
they can welcome
their baby boy into the world.
Is he still awake?
He could be asleep by now.
It'll be a pain in the bum,
but I'm just going to put these over
him cos it is cold.
Hello. Tell them what it is.
A little boy.
He's adorable.
All ready to go home.
A day and a half later,
it's time to leave hospital
and begin life as a family of three.
First time putting him
in the car seat.
He's got a lot of hair.
Straight on today.
No messing about.
Baby Jessie is now almost
two weeks old.
Emma is about to check in
with the family.
Hi!
Hi! Hi! How are you?
All right, thank you. You?
I'm very good.
Emma, where have you gone?
She's just there,
she's just changing.
Oh!
SHE CHUCKLES
How is he?
Really good.
EMMA GUSHES
Aw!
Look at him! He's got so much hair.
Oh, yeah, he's got loads.
Oh, bless him.
And how are you, Emma?
All right. It was a bit of a shocker
birth, though,
cos I ended up having
to have a C-section.
When I spoke to you,
you wanted to hypnobirth.
Yeah, like the pain
and everything wasn't a problem,
I was dealing with that.
My body just didn't want to do it.
So when the doctor came
to check me,
she said that it
just wasn't happening
so she said the best thing was to
have a C-section.
I was so upset, wasn't I?
Yeah, you were.
I'll just get him on.
Yeah, that's fine.
But it turns out, in hindsight,
it was for the best.
Because they said, during
the surgery, they found out
she has a really thin uterus,
so if she had given birth naturally,
it could have ruptured
and she wouldn't have been able to
have any more children anyway.
Oh, wow.
Yeah, so next time we've got to
wait at least two years
and then obviously we will have
to have a planned C-section again.
I mean maybe it
happened for a reason then.
Yeah. Exactly.
And how have you been post op?
There are still the odd times,
especially in the morning,
I can't get up properly,
But I feel like I am healing
really well, aren't I?
Tried to go for a walk
yesterday didn't we?
That was a little bit much.
Yeah. That was a bit much.
And breast-feeding seems to
be going well.
Yeah. Yeah. Really well.
I am so, like, pleased with it.
Oh, I am so happy for you both.
It's a shame that it didn't go
the way you wanted but, at the end
of the day, you're both safe and
well and that is all that matters.
Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.
Definitely.
Enjoy your coming days and weeks
with him and how much he changes.
Thank you. Have a lovely day.
Thank you, too. Bye-bye.
Aww!
That was nice.
They're such a lovely couple.
I've never heard of that,
thin uterus.
I feel like I need to call Naghmeh,
and find out exactly what it means.
But it clearly means that you have
to have a section,
so that it doesn't rupture.
Good job it ended in a section.
You wonder if those things
happen for a reason, don't you?
When you hear about things
like that.
But their lovely
little rainbow baby.
It's very cute.
The Coronavirus is the biggest
threat this country
has faced for decades.
To put it simply, if too
many people become seriously unwell
at one time, the NHS will
be unable to handle it.
And that's why we've been asking
people to stay at home
during this pandemic.
How has lockdown been for you?
I mean, it's been up and down.
I hate the word roller-coaster.
But it is the best analogy
for it, really.
But it's much like birth.
Because no two births are
the same, really.
Everybody's situation is different.
And lockdown is the same.
You know, you may have a very
similar lockdown to your mate,
or a bunch of other
people across the country.
But everybody's experiencing
it in a very different way.
How am I feeling about
the lockdown?
Very emotional.
I've done a lot of thinking,
a lot of thinking is literally
all that I can do.
I feel like I'm spending my days
just bouncing on a birthing ball,
eating, and having a nap.
And then repeat.
It would be nice to have, like,
some family round.
My voice is cracking.
Oh, gosh. I didn't expect to,
like, cry.
Most people have found it
quite tough.
And then you think about people
who are shielding.
And that must be incredibly
difficult.
Quick, he's coming!
The next family have been shielding
since the beginning of lockdown,
because mum-to-be Emma
suffers from an irregular heartbeat.
They live in Fife, Scotland,
and have sent in a short
introduction video.
I am Emma Charlton.
I am 32.
I am currently 37 weeks pregnant.
And I am Simon Charlton.
I am 31 and Emma's husband.
Welcome to Melpark House
Come on in.
We're kind of a bit isolated here.
We are kind of the only ones
of our family that live in Fife.
And with the coronavirus situation,
we have had quite the family
affair at home.
Only conversing with the other
households in the village
during the NHS clap every week,
shouting across the street to each
other about how we're getting on.
And that's really kind of been all
the interaction that we've had.
Yeah. We're pretty isolated.
This one is just two miles from up
the road from where we live.
And I think it's the furthest
I have been away from the house
since the start of lockdown.
So it is nice to get out
and about for a wee bit, actually.
Whoosh.
Right, let's phone her.
I can't believe how good
I am getting at technology.
Was it not your specialist
subject before lockdown?
No. I'm a technophobe, for sure.
Not anymore.
Hello, how are you?
Can you hear? Hi.
Hi! I've just been talking about
what a tech whizz I've become
during lockdown and then suddenly
I thought it wasn't going to work.
I am a bit of a technophobe as well.
Good. We're on the same page.
Two Emmas that are very similar.
How are you both getting on?
Yeah, we're doing good.
We are, yeah.
We're doing good.
And how has your lockdown been?
You're in the vulnerable
category, is that right?
Yeah, so I would be more
prone to symptoms
than a lot of women
in my situation.
I've obviously been very
worried about it.
And Simon had explained
this to his work
and they put him on furlough
and have classed him as shielding.
Very lucky, in that respect.
That's amazing, isn't it?
They've been really good.
Absolutely fantastic.
Before lockdown started
I was feeling a bit
nervous about the whole pandemic.
So when we went into lockdown,
I kind of felt validated,
my concerns and my anxiety
that I was having.
Jude, we're not meant to touch that,
darling. It's all dirty.
Jude just touching something outside
gives me a lot of anxiety
and I just see him now
as being contaminated
until he's been wiped down.
He's dirty, Si.
Let's take his jumper off him.
Yeah, OK.
OK wait a minute,
I need to take your helmet off.
Simon does all the wiping down
and the cleaning of him
before I can then actually
touch Jude again.
So a nice normal family walk quite
often turns into something
quite stressful or quite
anxiety-driven for myself.
How old is Jude? Is he two?
Two and a half now.
Two and a half?
How does he feel about having
a sibling?
It's been a bit tricky.
We've had some difficult behaviour
over the last week or two
and I don't know whether it is to
do with lockdown
or if he's just a bit fed up of
hearing about the baby all the time.
I found my little one getting quite
irritable, the past week.
Matt's been going, "I don't know
what's the matter with her,
"she's really miserable."
And I'm, like, maybe she's not
miserable,
maybe she's frustrated
and doesn't understand why
she's not going to nursery or why
she is isn't seeing her friends.
You might be worrying that it's
the baby coming but really
it could be just the fact that
his little life isn't as it normally
is and he doesn't really understand
why it's not that way anymore.
Yeah, I think we've both kind
of maybe just reached
that fed up stage, both me and Jude.
We just want the baby here now.
Well, it is just a matter of days,
isn't it?
You're nearly there.
So, good luck. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
And I'll speak to you soon.
Take care. Bye.
Bye.
Remember last time I gave birth,
and they said don't ring
until you can't speak to them?
It's definitely at that
sort of stage.
In Lincoln, Sammy is having
contractions
and is on the phone to the
maternity team.
It's your second baby,
so things sometimes happen quicker.
I'm more than happy for you to come
in to be assessed,
if that's what you feel you need.
Following advice from
the midwife, Sammy
and Damien decide to
make their way to the hospital.
Let's do this, Damo. Let's do this.
Let's you do it. Yeah, I was going
to say, you've not got much to do.
Just sit and watch.
Oh, they're so strong.
Emma is watching Sammy
and her partner Damian
make their way to the hospital.
SHE EXHALES
Are you nervous, Damo?
Yeah.
I am, and I haven't got
to do anything.
Hi, can I help?
Hi. My name's Samantha
Postlethwaite,
I've been asked to come in.
DAMIAN LAUGHS
How are you feeling?
Not great.
I'll be honest.
The midwife is going to go and fill
up the birth pool
because I mentioned that
I would like to try a water birth.
So now I am just on the gas and air.
Seeing how that goes for a bit.
WATER RUNNING
Look how cosy that is.
I can't believe it's actually
happening.
The pool is heated to the
correct temperature.
Sammy is now in active labour.
Wow, cool as a cucumber.
Using a small mirror, the midwife
checks to see the baby's position.
She's just sitting there.
She is not far away.
SAMMY GASPS
Just breathe.
Just breathe really gently.
Just breathe.
Just breathe.
Loads of hair on this baby!
Go on.
That's it. Well done, you.
Come on, Sammy. OK?
And if you've still got it, have
another push, if it's still there.
Here she is.
Look, in front of you.
Grab her at the front.
Oh, my God!
Oh, my God!
Straight up out the water.
What time, is it?
Quarter to 11.
Oh, my goodness.
Just 45 minutes after
arriving at the hospital,
Sammy gives birth to a baby girl.
She's tiny.
She's perfect.
I didn't even know she was pushing!
That was extraordinary.
She should be the
posterchild for birth.
Like, show people that and nobody
would be scared of having a baby.
She's got a pair of lungs on her.
Has not stopped crying pretty much
since birth.
BABY CRIES
Aww, darling.
I can't believe how quick
that happened.
I'm honestly What on earth?
What time did we get here?
10? She was born at 10:40.
10:47.
47 minutes.
That's amazing.
Aw, look.
Sleeping on Dada.
Exhausted after all that
crying, I think.
Say bye to Daddy.
See you in the morning.
Oh, she's got Daddy's hair.
With the family now back at home,
Emma is going to check in
to see how they're getting on
and meet baby Emily.
How are you doing? Good, thank you.
Look at her!
I know.
She's just gone to sleep
after about a million bum pats.
I just watched your birth video.
I mean, how phenomenal
you are at giving birth.
THEY CHUCKLE
You got in that pool and I was kind
of watching you and I've only seen
a couple of water births, but the
ones I have seen, you can very much
see when that pushing is happening,
but with you, I just couldn't.
It was almost like you just
literally breathed her out.
It was really, like,
proud of myself that I went through,
did the water birth, and didn't
really have any pain, really.
It was incredible to watch.
And what was it like in hospital?
I was very, very emotional
the day after the birth
cos I was really struggling to
get to grips with breast-feeding
and not being able to have Damien
there with me was hard
and I just kept saying to them,
"When can I go home?
"When can I go home?" And how is
feeding going now?
Um We're having very
stressful days.
Some days I'm like, "I'm not doing
this any more, I can't do this."
And then other days I'm like, "No,
I need to push on." But I'm finding
that with the pandemic,
the breast-feeding support isn't
quite what I expected it would be
because they can check the latch
and things over video,
but it's not quite the same as
having somebody come out
to physically see you. Yeah.
But, yeah, that's been quite hard.
EMILY GRIZZLES
I'm having a really, really tough
time with breast-feeding today.
Like, I've almost thrown in the
towel multiple times and thought,
"I absolutely cannot do this."
And
That isn't something that I want
to do. I don't want to give up.
I really want to keep going.
But it's just been so tough and I
just don't know what to do.
So I've said to Damien to give her
a bottle of formula
because I don't
have anything expressed.
It's just kind of hard to not
feel like I'm a failure
when it's like this.
I struggled with all three
of my babies with breast-feeding.
Yeah. And I just found that I
was the same,
I was beating myself up
every single time
because I felt like I was failing.
I got to the point where I went,
"I'm doing as much as I can
"and I'm not going to drive
myself into the ground
"because my baby's happy,
my baby is healthy."
Don't Yeah.
Don't beat yourself up to much.
And I had plans of wanting to
support Sammy as much as possible
with the breast-feeding,
take Harry out of here for a bit,
go to some soft-play or go to some
parks or whatever.
I was thinking
that would be brilliant
cos that would be great for me
and Harry
and great for her to stay here.
You know, we can walk round
a few fields,
but that's about the extent of it
at the moment. Yeah.
I suppose we keep our
fingers crossed that things
are being eased now,
so maybe bits of normality will
start coming back in.
Do you think you'll continue
trying to breast-feed?
People say six weeks is when
there's that kind of marker
where things start to get a little
bit easier
so we're four weeks in now,
so I'd quite like to at least
push to six weeks.
Getting to four weeks, I think,
is a massive achievement in itself.
Yeah.
I gave up after two weeks and we
weren't in the middle of a pandemic.
SHE CHUCKLES
So I take my hat off to you.
With Harry, it was something
like four days and I thought,
"I can't do this. No."
But she looks super happy.
She looks very content.
Yeah. Yeah.
She seems to be getting bigger
so I think I'm doing my job.
Totally. Absolutely.
You're doing everything you can
for her
and you're doing your absolute best.
We'll speak in a couple of weeks.
Yeah, definitely.
OK, take care. You too. Bye. Bye.
Nice to speak to you. Bye.
I know many people find
breast-feeding quite easy,
but there are a lot of people that
struggle with it.
With every child I had,
breast-feeding was an issue.
And the one thing that I learned
was breast-feeding support
is imperative.
OK, perfect.
And when I say that, I don't just
mean somebody
who can talk you through it, but
breast-feeding support is hands-on.
Now we're going to attempt to
breast-feed as long as we can,
but I just can't produce too much.
I am very sore.
A couple of lovely ladies,
due to the restrictions their
clinic's shut,
so they came here in all their full
PPE and helped me with the latching
and give me loads of advice so that
was brilliant.
RATTLING Pardon?
Sorry about that.
And we're in a pandemic,
so for the women that struggle
with breast-feeding,
this moment in time is going
to be even harder.
Sh, sh, Mum is trying to talk. OK?
Mummy's talking.
Oh, it's frozen.
So, communication,
having a support network,
having people who can verbally
explain to you,
because they physically
can't help you,
that is crucial.
In Scotland, there has been
a development to Emma's pregnancy,
and Simon is driving her
to hospital.
It's 11 o'clock at night.
I'm now 12 hours of contractions
every five minutes apart.
Hopefully, this is it.
A bit nervous. Fingers crossed.
Yeah, fingers crossed.
A week overdue, could do
with baby arriving sometime soon.
Oh. Speed bumps.
Oh, God.
We've just arrived at the hospital
and making our way up to the
maternity unit just over there,
just as another contraction's
started for Emma,
so we've timed that well. Yay!
Emma and Simon have been shielding
since the beginning of lockdown
due to Emma's irregular heartbeat.
Tonight, they are making
their way to the maternity unit
ahead of the birth
of their second child.
Maternity triage.
I never thought I could be so happy
about so much pain.
SHE CHUCKLES
Yay!
That's us going up,
face masks adorned, hands washed
at the door.
A little surreal but, hey, that's
the time we're living in.
But soon after
arriving at the hospital,
the baby becomes distressed,
and her birth
takes a different course.
They tried to put a clip
on the baby's head,
but still they couldn't get a good
read on the heartbeat,
so Emma's been whisked away
for a C-section.
Oh. In limbo, whether I can go in
there or not
depends on baby's heartbeat.
If the heartbeat doesn't pick up,
Emma's going to be anaesthetised
and put to sleep
and rather than me going out
the door to go and be with Emma,
our baby's going to come
my way instead, so
..a bit of a waiting game to wait
and see what happens just now.
The baby's heart rate fails
to pick up
so Emma is put under
general anaesthetic.
Simon is not allowed in theatre
as a result.
So one of the midwives
just popped in.
It's about 30 - 35 minutes ago
since Emma was whisked away
for an emergency C-section.
Been told that baby is out
and is fine, doing well,
and Emma was under general
anaesthetic, so might be a bit woozy
when she comes back, but good
news is baby is out and doing well.
I guess I need to just hang tight
a little bit more
until brought through and I can
finally meet them.
In theatre, Emma has also yet
to meet her baby.
He's still round in neo-natal unit.
It turned out there was some
meconium in the water
that could have been adding
to the stress they were seeing. Aw!
So needing a wee
bit of oxygen just now.
I got some pictures from
the midwives.
There he is! Ah!
Having a good old shout.
Apparently, he was a wee bit stunned
when he came out
but recovered quickly,
so that's good. Aww!
Hi! He's here!
Ten hours after giving birth
Oh, yeah, bring him round,
bring him round.
..Emma is finally reunited
with her baby boy.
Aww, look at him!
Say hello. My name's Reuben
and I've come to stay with my mummy.
A week later,
the family are back at home
and Emma is about to make
contact with them.
Hello. Hello. Hi, how are you?
Not bad, thank you. And yourself?
I'm good. Where's Emma?
Just appearing now. Yay!
Just like that.
How are you guys?
How are you getting on?
We're getting there.
We were in hospital for a week,
after having him,
because he was immediately taken
to the neo-natal unit
and we found out that he's got
a cleft in his soft palate.
So, what does it mean,
his cleft palate?
Right at the back of the mouth.
Split in two when you look at it.
It also means that there's a hole
in his palate between his palate
and his nose,
so that needs to be repaired
because the muscles for speech
won't work properly.
So, he'll have problems
with his speech and language
as he grows up,
so we're going to get
a lot of support with that,
up until about seven years of age.
And does it affect his feeding? Yes.
When a baby normally feeds,
they create a vacuum,
whereas with him,
because he's got a hole,
he can't create that vacuum
Right so he's had to learn
how to feed differently.
So, the teats that he's got are
quite soft and he's also got a valve
within the teat as well
to help control the flow,
so he doesn't get flooded,
basically Yeah when he's
feeding. He's going to need
some surgery a bit later on
and we've had to see specialists
in Glasgow as well.
And at what age will he have to have
surgery, do you know?
They've said between 6 months and
12 months, he'll get that repaired.
But you would never know looking
at him and he's doing so well.
I was going to say,
aside from all of that stuff
you've had to deal with, how is he?
He's fantastic.
He is. He's a typical baby, eating
and pooing. Doing grand, he is.
And sleeping? Yes. Loves to sleep.
And he's not fazed by any noise that
Jude's making either.
And how has Jude reacted to him?
Very well, very well.
He likes to give him cuddles
and kisses, he loves to hold him.
It's just been really, really good.
I'm so pleased that you're home
and you're all OK
and I hope that everything
goes well with the repair.
Yes, thank you. Thank you.
And it was lovely to see you and
meet him. Take care and thank you.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
Take care as well. All the best.
Bye. Bye.
So much is already happening
in the world, but when you know that
your child has to have an operation,
essentially, at such a young age
..it's a lot to deal with,
mentally and physically,
and they seem to both be doing
really well with it.
As restrictions are being eased
across the UK, Emma is on her way
to Lincoln to meet Sammy, Damian
and their two children.
Hey!
Nice to finally see you in person.
You too. Who's this?
Hello, gorgeous.
Oh, my God. She's beautiful.
Hi, Harry. How are you?
Emily is about ten weeks old now
and, when we chatted,
Sammy had been struggling
with breast-feeding.
That's always something
that makes me go,
"I want to help!" because
I struggled with it as well.
Look at your little face.
You're so cute.
She's super alert and
watching everything, isn't she?
She always has been,
from day one, like that.
A little meerkat from day one. Aww.
Is it funny to see a different face
that you don't know?
Hi!
It's been really nice
meeting people,
just generally being out of
the house and seeing other people,
rather than your husband
and your three kids every day.
Just a bit of difference,
a bit of variety.
So, Harry, how are you? Good. Yeah?
What is it like having
a little sister? Good. Yeah?
Do you play with her loads? Yeah?
Do you help Mummy and Daddy? Yeah.
Do you help with the nappies? No!
EMMA LAUGHS
How have you found the transition
from one to two?
It's been stressful at times,
trying to manage them both,
especially in the early days, when
she was screaming, and then because
he didn't like the noise of her
screaming, then he'd be screaming.
He's starting school,
actually, this week,
so it'll be easier then, I think.
And how are you feeling about him
going to school?
I'm so nervous Good!
..especially He's like, "Yay!
"I'm out of here!" You're happy
about going to school, aren't you?
I think it will be good for Sammy,
if nothing else.
LAUGHTER Just get down to one
when I'm at work, I think that'd be
a good thing.
Do you want to go play
on your trampoline?
Oh! Getting a bit tired.
Shall we just feed you to sleep
and just see if that works? Yeah.
One of the things I was
really curious about was
how feeding was going,
but it looks like
it's going like an absolute dream.
Yeah, no, it's going really,
really well.
This is kind of what I was always
imagining, when I was going through
the pain of it and thinking, "I want
to give up, I want to give up."
I was always imagining having
a peaceful feed where it's not
painful and the bonding is
really lovely, and, yeah,
it's got to that point now and I'm
really pleased that I stuck with it.
The biggest thing for me at
the start was, with Harry,
we 50-50 bottle-fed,
so I always had him in my arms,
time with the bottle.
You get all that eye contact
and that.
It made it really difficult.
I struggled with the bond
and that, yeah. Yeah.
Hello. That probably does remove
a certain amount of bonding time
that you would have maybe had with
Harry that you didn't get this time.
It definitely looks like there's
a fantastic bond there now. Yeah,
definitely. You do a bottle
in the evening most of the time,
don't you? Yeah.
When I remember to actually express.
A lot of the time, I just forget,
don't I? It is an effort.
It's really hard!
I mean, you're constantly
on a machine as well.
"I've been at this for hours,
come on!"
And there was one day where
I spent a good hour expressing,
but then it was on here and
I knocked it off and I was like
SHE GASPS
..and they say you shouldn't cry
over spilt milk, but I cried.
I was like, "My God, I spent ages
getting that milk!"
I think if you knock over
breastmilk,
and it takes you that long,
you have every right to cry
and break things and scream
and do all of that.
It's really nice to hear that
the struggles that they have faced
they have overcome and all looks
well in that household.
Thank you so much
for having me over.
It's really nice to meet you, Harry.
You're welcome.
Good luck at school tomorrow.
You're welcome. I love it!
And it was lovely to meet you.
Thank you very much.
She's delightful.
That was really lovely.
Gorgeous, gorgeous little baby.
Just so alert
and got this little pout
and smile that just kind of
melts your heart.
Bye!
Yay! I got a smile!
They've obviously struggled
in the beginning, both of them,
in different ways.
Thank you. See you later. Bye! Bye.
I think it's amazing how open
they are about it and honest
because, you know, that will
speak to a lot of people.
It is a struggle.
You know, it's the most
wonderful thing that can happen
to you in your life, but it's
also a struggle and you have
to adjust and adapt, and it's hard
enough in a world that is pre-Covid,
let alone in a world that is
very much at the height of Covid.
On 23rd March, 2020,
the UK went into lockdown following
the coronavirus outbreak.
BORIS JOHNSON: You must stay at
home.
So we can protect the NHS's ability
to cope and save more lives.
And while the medics on the front
line worked tirelessly to
protect the nation
Red, yeah she's red.
..maternity units up and down the
country played an equally important
role.
BEEP
36, 9.
The one thing that is an absolute
definite is that
babies are going to keep being born.
You know, you can't stop
childbirth during the pandemic.
In this extraordinary series,
filmed during lockdown, television
presenter, mother-of-three and fully
qualified maternity care assistant
Emma Willis
DEEP BREATH
That's it, well done.
..is going to find out just what
it's like to be pregnant
It's been a testing pregnancy,
hasn't it?
..and give birth during these
remarkable times.
Gloves and mask.
Reaching out to parents to
be across the UK
Hi. Oh, I can't hear you.
..she'll get to know them
virtually
Hello. How are you? Good, thank you.
How has lockdown been?
Interesting.
..before asking them to turn
the camera on themselves
Right, let's get ready for the
action.
..and share the stress
I'm nervous, if I'm honest.
I found it really
difficult to leave her.
I don't know why.
..the drama
SHE CRIES
Good.
BABY CRIES
Can you get me a Resucitaire?
..and the wonder
Oh, the joy of a cry.
..of bringing new life into the
world in the midst of a pandemic.
She's perfect.
Oh, my gosh.
Just in the nick of time.
Look at that little face.
And once restrictions are eased
Hi! Hi!
..Emma will travel to meet
the families in person
She's beautiful. Hi, Harry.
..to find out how they're getting
on.
Oh, hello!
I don't know what
I'm more excited about, actually,
meeting a new baby or being
out of the house.
With lockdown restrictions
still in place,
Emma is connecting to parents-to-be
up and down the country remotely.
Have you enjoyed talking to people
remotely? I've really enjoyed it.
You know, we are in the house
and we need to stay in the house,
and we can't be going out
and mixing with people.
It's really nice to have that
connection with somebody, whether
they're kind of down the road or
at the other side of the country.
I'm a doer, I like to be active
and to do something,
and there's only
so much washing you can do in a day.
The first couple Emma will be
speaking to are expecting their
first child.
They have sent in a short
introduction video.
I'm Matt and I am 29.
I'm Emma Jane. I am 27.
We've been together for about ten
and a half years.
We've been married for four years
We've got nappies in here.
.and been trying for
a baby for three years.
We've got baby wipes.
And we are now 37 weeks
pregnant with our little
rainbow baby after unfortunately
having two miscarriages.
We got this three years ago
when we were first pregnant,
cos we're all huge Harry Potter
fans.
It's got a time turner.
I thought there was
a snitch on there somewhere
but I'm not sure.
Lockdown is so, so much harder
and more emotional
because we've waited so long for
him and we have lost two babies.
So, this is our little Moses basket.
I've been waiting for three
years to use this.
It's been tough missing
out on things like baby groups
and pregnancy groups that I wanted
to go to because of Covid-19.
Today's Emma Jane's baby yoga day.
Has started doing it online.
But I'm hoping by the time he grows
up, this'll be all in the past
and it will have some
sort of normality back.
With hospital visiting
restrictions now in place,
Matt isn't allowed to go with Emma
Jane to her antenatal appointments.
Bye. Love you.
I'll just wait here.
So, it's a little bit sad that
I get to miss these things.
But as long as the baby's OK.
Emma Jane is already at full-term
with her pregnancy.
Hello? Hi!
How are you doing?
Yeah, good. Just bored of waiting
now.
I bet. It's nice to virtually
meet you both. Hi. You too.
I know you're overdue,
but how many days?
Ten days over.
Doesn't want to come out to the
coronavirus. It's staying in.
Social distancing from the world.
Yeah. Absolutely, yeah.
So there's been no
conversations about induction?
They have mentioned it and I've said
I do want to avoid it if possible.
But obviously, I just want to make
sure the baby's safe. Yeah.
When you have waited so long,
though, it doesn't matter, does it?
Yeah.
As long as everything
goes to the way we want it,
Emma Jane and the baby are going
to come home and then it's just
And that's it, isn't it? It's
thinking of the positives.
Yeah, yeah.
And how are you
feeling about giving birth?
Obviously I've never done it before,
so I could be being really naive,
but we've done hypnobirthing and
it's really educated me as to what
to expect and why things happen.
So, the actual birth,
I feel all right about it.
But it's the fact that Matt's not
going to be able to be with me
the whole time.
Like, if I do end up having to be
induced, I've got to go in on my
own.
And then, what if he doesn't make it
in time?
That's the scary bit for me.
Everybody that I know that has done
hypnobirthing has loved it.
I think if you can get in that
headspace
and everything kind of goes to plan,
then it must be absolutely
wonderful.
Hopefully I can. Well, good luck.
And I'll be in touch again soon.
Nice to meet you. You too. You too.
Bye. Bye. Bye.
Emma Jane and Matt
seem pretty chill.
And maybe that's part
of the hypnobirthing, is properly
in their head and their approach
to it is quite calm and considered.
I can't wait to see them
with their little baby.
There are many ways to give birth.
They're just running the bath
now. And then I'm going to jump in.
And many women write down how
they would like their labour to
unfold in a birth plan.
They're incredibly important.
As a woman, it gives you a focus
and makes you feel like you
are doing it, even if you do have
outside help from other people,
if that is what is necessary.
Definite thumbs up to hypnobirthing,
and sort of being able to
stay in control of everything.
Now, birth plans are brilliant
if they go the way you want
it to go.
I was ten centimetres,
my waters went.
She was out within ten minutes.
However, babies don't
necessarily have the same birth plan
as the mother, so sometimes a birth
plan will go out the window
and that is OK, too,
because you can't predict a birth.
Much like you can't predict
a pandemic.
So it's great
if you can be adaptable.
Emma's next call is to
a second-time mother-to-be
whose birth plan includes
a water birth.
Hello, my name is Sammy,
I am 29 years old.
I live with my husband
and my three-year-old son, Harry,
in a little village outside
of Lincoln.
Sunning yourself there.
And I am currently 40 weeks pregnant
today with baby number two.
Not long now! Are we excited?
Yeah, yeah, yeah!
I have found myself, unfortunately,
pregnant in the middle
of a pandemic,
right in the middle of a lockdown
which, honestly, hasn't been
the most ideal experience.
What happened to your train?
He broke!
HARRY CHATTERING
This is just like all day,
every day, this noise.
This isn't how I pictured
maternity leave.
I thought, "I'll have a couple
of weeks of peace
"before the baby's born." Rawrr!
No peace for me.
Now I'm covered in stickers.
They're all up my back as well.
Thanks, baby. I love stickers.
What do you think
about the nasty cough?
Bad. Bad. Yeah.
And do you think it'll go away soon?
Yeah! We hope so, don't we?
Yeah. Yeah.
I need to sort out these.
These are my hospital bags.
Because of the pandemic,
the hospital are saying that we
can only have one bag.
I understand cos it's trying
to minimise contamination
by having less bags around,
which does make sense,
but it's going to be a nightmare.
Just purchased this little vest,
which says
"Eenie Weenie Quaranteenie,
born in 2020, Mummy bossed it."
It's something we can keep forever
and remind her of the time
that she was born in.
Hi. Hello. How are you doing?
You all right?
Yeah, I'm good, thank you.
Yeah, really good. Good.
Tell me about challenges
you've faced
with being pregnant during
the pandemic.
There's so many things.
Like, there's the worry of catching
the virus because, at one point,
they were saying that pregnant
women were at risk.
I've missed out on my baby shower.
I know that sounds really trivial,
but it's little things like that.
With Harry, our first-born,
it's like we were going to go to
the theatre and that got cancelled
and that was supposed to be our last
little mummy-son date.
Yeah, it's nowhere near what
I expected it was going to be like.
It's just
Yeah, it's not what I'd planned
at all.
What are your kind of
biggest concerns
for after you've had the baby,
would you say?
Um Breast-feeding is one thing
that I've been
so passionate about all the way
through my pregnancy.
I really, really want
to breast-feed,
and I'm worried that there's not
going to be the right support there.
I want to be able to have people
come around and check that I'm doing
it right
and I don't know whether we're going
to be able to do that or whether
it's all going to be online.
I know I need to research
it a little bit more
as to what help is out there.
Did you breast-feed your son?
No, I didn't breast-feed
Harry, no,
so it's like a new experience
completely for me. Yeah.
Try and just get as much support
whilst you're in the hospital as
possible. Yeah.
Yeah, I'll be pestering them every
two minutes.
You should, you should.
"Is it right? Have another look.
Is it right?"
Make the most of it while I'm there.
Definitely.
Fantastic. Thank you,
and all the best.
Thank you very much.
Let's catch up soon.
Yeah, hopefully talk to you soon.
OK, take care, have a good day. Bye.
Sammy talked about really
wanting to breast-feed.
Huge!
She hadn't with her son
and she's anxious about it,
which I absolutely can relate to.
I think you get this idea in your
head that it's the easiest thing
in the world to do
because it's natural,
but it actually can be really
quite difficult.
And plus, we're in the middle
of a pandemic.
That's a massive worry in itself.
Hypnobirthing couple
Emma Jane and Matt
are making their way into hospital.
So I've been allowed in the room.
Almost two weeks overdue,
Emma Jane has just been induced.
With husband Matt by her side,
Emma Jane is in labour
and working through
her hypnobirth techniques.
SHE BREATHES DEEPLY
Aw.
SHE GROANS
But her labour isn't
progressing as it should be.
Oh!
And the medical team decide
to take her to theatre
for a Caesarean section.
The couple have suffered two losses
in the past,
so are understandably anxious.
So, unfortunately, all of Emma
Jane's plan has fallen apart
due to unforeseen circumstances,
so she's just gone down
for a C-section,
so I'm just waiting to be
taken down as well.
Matt can join Emma Jane in theatre,
but can't film the birth.
Thankfully, it's a
straightforward procedure,
and it's not long before
they can welcome
their baby boy into the world.
Is he still awake?
He could be asleep by now.
It'll be a pain in the bum,
but I'm just going to put these over
him cos it is cold.
Hello. Tell them what it is.
A little boy.
He's adorable.
All ready to go home.
A day and a half later,
it's time to leave hospital
and begin life as a family of three.
First time putting him
in the car seat.
He's got a lot of hair.
Straight on today.
No messing about.
Baby Jessie is now almost
two weeks old.
Emma is about to check in
with the family.
Hi!
Hi! Hi! How are you?
All right, thank you. You?
I'm very good.
Emma, where have you gone?
She's just there,
she's just changing.
Oh!
SHE CHUCKLES
How is he?
Really good.
EMMA GUSHES
Aw!
Look at him! He's got so much hair.
Oh, yeah, he's got loads.
Oh, bless him.
And how are you, Emma?
All right. It was a bit of a shocker
birth, though,
cos I ended up having
to have a C-section.
When I spoke to you,
you wanted to hypnobirth.
Yeah, like the pain
and everything wasn't a problem,
I was dealing with that.
My body just didn't want to do it.
So when the doctor came
to check me,
she said that it
just wasn't happening
so she said the best thing was to
have a C-section.
I was so upset, wasn't I?
Yeah, you were.
I'll just get him on.
Yeah, that's fine.
But it turns out, in hindsight,
it was for the best.
Because they said, during
the surgery, they found out
she has a really thin uterus,
so if she had given birth naturally,
it could have ruptured
and she wouldn't have been able to
have any more children anyway.
Oh, wow.
Yeah, so next time we've got to
wait at least two years
and then obviously we will have
to have a planned C-section again.
I mean maybe it
happened for a reason then.
Yeah. Exactly.
And how have you been post op?
There are still the odd times,
especially in the morning,
I can't get up properly,
But I feel like I am healing
really well, aren't I?
Tried to go for a walk
yesterday didn't we?
That was a little bit much.
Yeah. That was a bit much.
And breast-feeding seems to
be going well.
Yeah. Yeah. Really well.
I am so, like, pleased with it.
Oh, I am so happy for you both.
It's a shame that it didn't go
the way you wanted but, at the end
of the day, you're both safe and
well and that is all that matters.
Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.
Definitely.
Enjoy your coming days and weeks
with him and how much he changes.
Thank you. Have a lovely day.
Thank you, too. Bye-bye.
Aww!
That was nice.
They're such a lovely couple.
I've never heard of that,
thin uterus.
I feel like I need to call Naghmeh,
and find out exactly what it means.
But it clearly means that you have
to have a section,
so that it doesn't rupture.
Good job it ended in a section.
You wonder if those things
happen for a reason, don't you?
When you hear about things
like that.
But their lovely
little rainbow baby.
It's very cute.
The Coronavirus is the biggest
threat this country
has faced for decades.
To put it simply, if too
many people become seriously unwell
at one time, the NHS will
be unable to handle it.
And that's why we've been asking
people to stay at home
during this pandemic.
How has lockdown been for you?
I mean, it's been up and down.
I hate the word roller-coaster.
But it is the best analogy
for it, really.
But it's much like birth.
Because no two births are
the same, really.
Everybody's situation is different.
And lockdown is the same.
You know, you may have a very
similar lockdown to your mate,
or a bunch of other
people across the country.
But everybody's experiencing
it in a very different way.
How am I feeling about
the lockdown?
Very emotional.
I've done a lot of thinking,
a lot of thinking is literally
all that I can do.
I feel like I'm spending my days
just bouncing on a birthing ball,
eating, and having a nap.
And then repeat.
It would be nice to have, like,
some family round.
My voice is cracking.
Oh, gosh. I didn't expect to,
like, cry.
Most people have found it
quite tough.
And then you think about people
who are shielding.
And that must be incredibly
difficult.
Quick, he's coming!
The next family have been shielding
since the beginning of lockdown,
because mum-to-be Emma
suffers from an irregular heartbeat.
They live in Fife, Scotland,
and have sent in a short
introduction video.
I am Emma Charlton.
I am 32.
I am currently 37 weeks pregnant.
And I am Simon Charlton.
I am 31 and Emma's husband.
Welcome to Melpark House
Come on in.
We're kind of a bit isolated here.
We are kind of the only ones
of our family that live in Fife.
And with the coronavirus situation,
we have had quite the family
affair at home.
Only conversing with the other
households in the village
during the NHS clap every week,
shouting across the street to each
other about how we're getting on.
And that's really kind of been all
the interaction that we've had.
Yeah. We're pretty isolated.
This one is just two miles from up
the road from where we live.
And I think it's the furthest
I have been away from the house
since the start of lockdown.
So it is nice to get out
and about for a wee bit, actually.
Whoosh.
Right, let's phone her.
I can't believe how good
I am getting at technology.
Was it not your specialist
subject before lockdown?
No. I'm a technophobe, for sure.
Not anymore.
Hello, how are you?
Can you hear? Hi.
Hi! I've just been talking about
what a tech whizz I've become
during lockdown and then suddenly
I thought it wasn't going to work.
I am a bit of a technophobe as well.
Good. We're on the same page.
Two Emmas that are very similar.
How are you both getting on?
Yeah, we're doing good.
We are, yeah.
We're doing good.
And how has your lockdown been?
You're in the vulnerable
category, is that right?
Yeah, so I would be more
prone to symptoms
than a lot of women
in my situation.
I've obviously been very
worried about it.
And Simon had explained
this to his work
and they put him on furlough
and have classed him as shielding.
Very lucky, in that respect.
That's amazing, isn't it?
They've been really good.
Absolutely fantastic.
Before lockdown started
I was feeling a bit
nervous about the whole pandemic.
So when we went into lockdown,
I kind of felt validated,
my concerns and my anxiety
that I was having.
Jude, we're not meant to touch that,
darling. It's all dirty.
Jude just touching something outside
gives me a lot of anxiety
and I just see him now
as being contaminated
until he's been wiped down.
He's dirty, Si.
Let's take his jumper off him.
Yeah, OK.
OK wait a minute,
I need to take your helmet off.
Simon does all the wiping down
and the cleaning of him
before I can then actually
touch Jude again.
So a nice normal family walk quite
often turns into something
quite stressful or quite
anxiety-driven for myself.
How old is Jude? Is he two?
Two and a half now.
Two and a half?
How does he feel about having
a sibling?
It's been a bit tricky.
We've had some difficult behaviour
over the last week or two
and I don't know whether it is to
do with lockdown
or if he's just a bit fed up of
hearing about the baby all the time.
I found my little one getting quite
irritable, the past week.
Matt's been going, "I don't know
what's the matter with her,
"she's really miserable."
And I'm, like, maybe she's not
miserable,
maybe she's frustrated
and doesn't understand why
she's not going to nursery or why
she is isn't seeing her friends.
You might be worrying that it's
the baby coming but really
it could be just the fact that
his little life isn't as it normally
is and he doesn't really understand
why it's not that way anymore.
Yeah, I think we've both kind
of maybe just reached
that fed up stage, both me and Jude.
We just want the baby here now.
Well, it is just a matter of days,
isn't it?
You're nearly there.
So, good luck. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
And I'll speak to you soon.
Take care. Bye.
Bye.
Remember last time I gave birth,
and they said don't ring
until you can't speak to them?
It's definitely at that
sort of stage.
In Lincoln, Sammy is having
contractions
and is on the phone to the
maternity team.
It's your second baby,
so things sometimes happen quicker.
I'm more than happy for you to come
in to be assessed,
if that's what you feel you need.
Following advice from
the midwife, Sammy
and Damien decide to
make their way to the hospital.
Let's do this, Damo. Let's do this.
Let's you do it. Yeah, I was going
to say, you've not got much to do.
Just sit and watch.
Oh, they're so strong.
Emma is watching Sammy
and her partner Damian
make their way to the hospital.
SHE EXHALES
Are you nervous, Damo?
Yeah.
I am, and I haven't got
to do anything.
Hi, can I help?
Hi. My name's Samantha
Postlethwaite,
I've been asked to come in.
DAMIAN LAUGHS
How are you feeling?
Not great.
I'll be honest.
The midwife is going to go and fill
up the birth pool
because I mentioned that
I would like to try a water birth.
So now I am just on the gas and air.
Seeing how that goes for a bit.
WATER RUNNING
Look how cosy that is.
I can't believe it's actually
happening.
The pool is heated to the
correct temperature.
Sammy is now in active labour.
Wow, cool as a cucumber.
Using a small mirror, the midwife
checks to see the baby's position.
She's just sitting there.
She is not far away.
SAMMY GASPS
Just breathe.
Just breathe really gently.
Just breathe.
Just breathe.
Loads of hair on this baby!
Go on.
That's it. Well done, you.
Come on, Sammy. OK?
And if you've still got it, have
another push, if it's still there.
Here she is.
Look, in front of you.
Grab her at the front.
Oh, my God!
Oh, my God!
Straight up out the water.
What time, is it?
Quarter to 11.
Oh, my goodness.
Just 45 minutes after
arriving at the hospital,
Sammy gives birth to a baby girl.
She's tiny.
She's perfect.
I didn't even know she was pushing!
That was extraordinary.
She should be the
posterchild for birth.
Like, show people that and nobody
would be scared of having a baby.
She's got a pair of lungs on her.
Has not stopped crying pretty much
since birth.
BABY CRIES
Aww, darling.
I can't believe how quick
that happened.
I'm honestly What on earth?
What time did we get here?
10? She was born at 10:40.
10:47.
47 minutes.
That's amazing.
Aw, look.
Sleeping on Dada.
Exhausted after all that
crying, I think.
Say bye to Daddy.
See you in the morning.
Oh, she's got Daddy's hair.
With the family now back at home,
Emma is going to check in
to see how they're getting on
and meet baby Emily.
How are you doing? Good, thank you.
Look at her!
I know.
She's just gone to sleep
after about a million bum pats.
I just watched your birth video.
I mean, how phenomenal
you are at giving birth.
THEY CHUCKLE
You got in that pool and I was kind
of watching you and I've only seen
a couple of water births, but the
ones I have seen, you can very much
see when that pushing is happening,
but with you, I just couldn't.
It was almost like you just
literally breathed her out.
It was really, like,
proud of myself that I went through,
did the water birth, and didn't
really have any pain, really.
It was incredible to watch.
And what was it like in hospital?
I was very, very emotional
the day after the birth
cos I was really struggling to
get to grips with breast-feeding
and not being able to have Damien
there with me was hard
and I just kept saying to them,
"When can I go home?
"When can I go home?" And how is
feeding going now?
Um We're having very
stressful days.
Some days I'm like, "I'm not doing
this any more, I can't do this."
And then other days I'm like, "No,
I need to push on." But I'm finding
that with the pandemic,
the breast-feeding support isn't
quite what I expected it would be
because they can check the latch
and things over video,
but it's not quite the same as
having somebody come out
to physically see you. Yeah.
But, yeah, that's been quite hard.
EMILY GRIZZLES
I'm having a really, really tough
time with breast-feeding today.
Like, I've almost thrown in the
towel multiple times and thought,
"I absolutely cannot do this."
And
That isn't something that I want
to do. I don't want to give up.
I really want to keep going.
But it's just been so tough and I
just don't know what to do.
So I've said to Damien to give her
a bottle of formula
because I don't
have anything expressed.
It's just kind of hard to not
feel like I'm a failure
when it's like this.
I struggled with all three
of my babies with breast-feeding.
Yeah. And I just found that I
was the same,
I was beating myself up
every single time
because I felt like I was failing.
I got to the point where I went,
"I'm doing as much as I can
"and I'm not going to drive
myself into the ground
"because my baby's happy,
my baby is healthy."
Don't Yeah.
Don't beat yourself up to much.
And I had plans of wanting to
support Sammy as much as possible
with the breast-feeding,
take Harry out of here for a bit,
go to some soft-play or go to some
parks or whatever.
I was thinking
that would be brilliant
cos that would be great for me
and Harry
and great for her to stay here.
You know, we can walk round
a few fields,
but that's about the extent of it
at the moment. Yeah.
I suppose we keep our
fingers crossed that things
are being eased now,
so maybe bits of normality will
start coming back in.
Do you think you'll continue
trying to breast-feed?
People say six weeks is when
there's that kind of marker
where things start to get a little
bit easier
so we're four weeks in now,
so I'd quite like to at least
push to six weeks.
Getting to four weeks, I think,
is a massive achievement in itself.
Yeah.
I gave up after two weeks and we
weren't in the middle of a pandemic.
SHE CHUCKLES
So I take my hat off to you.
With Harry, it was something
like four days and I thought,
"I can't do this. No."
But she looks super happy.
She looks very content.
Yeah. Yeah.
She seems to be getting bigger
so I think I'm doing my job.
Totally. Absolutely.
You're doing everything you can
for her
and you're doing your absolute best.
We'll speak in a couple of weeks.
Yeah, definitely.
OK, take care. You too. Bye. Bye.
Nice to speak to you. Bye.
I know many people find
breast-feeding quite easy,
but there are a lot of people that
struggle with it.
With every child I had,
breast-feeding was an issue.
And the one thing that I learned
was breast-feeding support
is imperative.
OK, perfect.
And when I say that, I don't just
mean somebody
who can talk you through it, but
breast-feeding support is hands-on.
Now we're going to attempt to
breast-feed as long as we can,
but I just can't produce too much.
I am very sore.
A couple of lovely ladies,
due to the restrictions their
clinic's shut,
so they came here in all their full
PPE and helped me with the latching
and give me loads of advice so that
was brilliant.
RATTLING Pardon?
Sorry about that.
And we're in a pandemic,
so for the women that struggle
with breast-feeding,
this moment in time is going
to be even harder.
Sh, sh, Mum is trying to talk. OK?
Mummy's talking.
Oh, it's frozen.
So, communication,
having a support network,
having people who can verbally
explain to you,
because they physically
can't help you,
that is crucial.
In Scotland, there has been
a development to Emma's pregnancy,
and Simon is driving her
to hospital.
It's 11 o'clock at night.
I'm now 12 hours of contractions
every five minutes apart.
Hopefully, this is it.
A bit nervous. Fingers crossed.
Yeah, fingers crossed.
A week overdue, could do
with baby arriving sometime soon.
Oh. Speed bumps.
Oh, God.
We've just arrived at the hospital
and making our way up to the
maternity unit just over there,
just as another contraction's
started for Emma,
so we've timed that well. Yay!
Emma and Simon have been shielding
since the beginning of lockdown
due to Emma's irregular heartbeat.
Tonight, they are making
their way to the maternity unit
ahead of the birth
of their second child.
Maternity triage.
I never thought I could be so happy
about so much pain.
SHE CHUCKLES
Yay!
That's us going up,
face masks adorned, hands washed
at the door.
A little surreal but, hey, that's
the time we're living in.
But soon after
arriving at the hospital,
the baby becomes distressed,
and her birth
takes a different course.
They tried to put a clip
on the baby's head,
but still they couldn't get a good
read on the heartbeat,
so Emma's been whisked away
for a C-section.
Oh. In limbo, whether I can go in
there or not
depends on baby's heartbeat.
If the heartbeat doesn't pick up,
Emma's going to be anaesthetised
and put to sleep
and rather than me going out
the door to go and be with Emma,
our baby's going to come
my way instead, so
..a bit of a waiting game to wait
and see what happens just now.
The baby's heart rate fails
to pick up
so Emma is put under
general anaesthetic.
Simon is not allowed in theatre
as a result.
So one of the midwives
just popped in.
It's about 30 - 35 minutes ago
since Emma was whisked away
for an emergency C-section.
Been told that baby is out
and is fine, doing well,
and Emma was under general
anaesthetic, so might be a bit woozy
when she comes back, but good
news is baby is out and doing well.
I guess I need to just hang tight
a little bit more
until brought through and I can
finally meet them.
In theatre, Emma has also yet
to meet her baby.
He's still round in neo-natal unit.
It turned out there was some
meconium in the water
that could have been adding
to the stress they were seeing. Aw!
So needing a wee
bit of oxygen just now.
I got some pictures from
the midwives.
There he is! Ah!
Having a good old shout.
Apparently, he was a wee bit stunned
when he came out
but recovered quickly,
so that's good. Aww!
Hi! He's here!
Ten hours after giving birth
Oh, yeah, bring him round,
bring him round.
..Emma is finally reunited
with her baby boy.
Aww, look at him!
Say hello. My name's Reuben
and I've come to stay with my mummy.
A week later,
the family are back at home
and Emma is about to make
contact with them.
Hello. Hello. Hi, how are you?
Not bad, thank you. And yourself?
I'm good. Where's Emma?
Just appearing now. Yay!
Just like that.
How are you guys?
How are you getting on?
We're getting there.
We were in hospital for a week,
after having him,
because he was immediately taken
to the neo-natal unit
and we found out that he's got
a cleft in his soft palate.
So, what does it mean,
his cleft palate?
Right at the back of the mouth.
Split in two when you look at it.
It also means that there's a hole
in his palate between his palate
and his nose,
so that needs to be repaired
because the muscles for speech
won't work properly.
So, he'll have problems
with his speech and language
as he grows up,
so we're going to get
a lot of support with that,
up until about seven years of age.
And does it affect his feeding? Yes.
When a baby normally feeds,
they create a vacuum,
whereas with him,
because he's got a hole,
he can't create that vacuum
Right so he's had to learn
how to feed differently.
So, the teats that he's got are
quite soft and he's also got a valve
within the teat as well
to help control the flow,
so he doesn't get flooded,
basically Yeah when he's
feeding. He's going to need
some surgery a bit later on
and we've had to see specialists
in Glasgow as well.
And at what age will he have to have
surgery, do you know?
They've said between 6 months and
12 months, he'll get that repaired.
But you would never know looking
at him and he's doing so well.
I was going to say,
aside from all of that stuff
you've had to deal with, how is he?
He's fantastic.
He is. He's a typical baby, eating
and pooing. Doing grand, he is.
And sleeping? Yes. Loves to sleep.
And he's not fazed by any noise that
Jude's making either.
And how has Jude reacted to him?
Very well, very well.
He likes to give him cuddles
and kisses, he loves to hold him.
It's just been really, really good.
I'm so pleased that you're home
and you're all OK
and I hope that everything
goes well with the repair.
Yes, thank you. Thank you.
And it was lovely to see you and
meet him. Take care and thank you.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
Take care as well. All the best.
Bye. Bye.
So much is already happening
in the world, but when you know that
your child has to have an operation,
essentially, at such a young age
..it's a lot to deal with,
mentally and physically,
and they seem to both be doing
really well with it.
As restrictions are being eased
across the UK, Emma is on her way
to Lincoln to meet Sammy, Damian
and their two children.
Hey!
Nice to finally see you in person.
You too. Who's this?
Hello, gorgeous.
Oh, my God. She's beautiful.
Hi, Harry. How are you?
Emily is about ten weeks old now
and, when we chatted,
Sammy had been struggling
with breast-feeding.
That's always something
that makes me go,
"I want to help!" because
I struggled with it as well.
Look at your little face.
You're so cute.
She's super alert and
watching everything, isn't she?
She always has been,
from day one, like that.
A little meerkat from day one. Aww.
Is it funny to see a different face
that you don't know?
Hi!
It's been really nice
meeting people,
just generally being out of
the house and seeing other people,
rather than your husband
and your three kids every day.
Just a bit of difference,
a bit of variety.
So, Harry, how are you? Good. Yeah?
What is it like having
a little sister? Good. Yeah?
Do you play with her loads? Yeah?
Do you help Mummy and Daddy? Yeah.
Do you help with the nappies? No!
EMMA LAUGHS
How have you found the transition
from one to two?
It's been stressful at times,
trying to manage them both,
especially in the early days, when
she was screaming, and then because
he didn't like the noise of her
screaming, then he'd be screaming.
He's starting school,
actually, this week,
so it'll be easier then, I think.
And how are you feeling about him
going to school?
I'm so nervous Good!
..especially He's like, "Yay!
"I'm out of here!" You're happy
about going to school, aren't you?
I think it will be good for Sammy,
if nothing else.
LAUGHTER Just get down to one
when I'm at work, I think that'd be
a good thing.
Do you want to go play
on your trampoline?
Oh! Getting a bit tired.
Shall we just feed you to sleep
and just see if that works? Yeah.
One of the things I was
really curious about was
how feeding was going,
but it looks like
it's going like an absolute dream.
Yeah, no, it's going really,
really well.
This is kind of what I was always
imagining, when I was going through
the pain of it and thinking, "I want
to give up, I want to give up."
I was always imagining having
a peaceful feed where it's not
painful and the bonding is
really lovely, and, yeah,
it's got to that point now and I'm
really pleased that I stuck with it.
The biggest thing for me at
the start was, with Harry,
we 50-50 bottle-fed,
so I always had him in my arms,
time with the bottle.
You get all that eye contact
and that.
It made it really difficult.
I struggled with the bond
and that, yeah. Yeah.
Hello. That probably does remove
a certain amount of bonding time
that you would have maybe had with
Harry that you didn't get this time.
It definitely looks like there's
a fantastic bond there now. Yeah,
definitely. You do a bottle
in the evening most of the time,
don't you? Yeah.
When I remember to actually express.
A lot of the time, I just forget,
don't I? It is an effort.
It's really hard!
I mean, you're constantly
on a machine as well.
"I've been at this for hours,
come on!"
And there was one day where
I spent a good hour expressing,
but then it was on here and
I knocked it off and I was like
SHE GASPS
..and they say you shouldn't cry
over spilt milk, but I cried.
I was like, "My God, I spent ages
getting that milk!"
I think if you knock over
breastmilk,
and it takes you that long,
you have every right to cry
and break things and scream
and do all of that.
It's really nice to hear that
the struggles that they have faced
they have overcome and all looks
well in that household.
Thank you so much
for having me over.
It's really nice to meet you, Harry.
You're welcome.
Good luck at school tomorrow.
You're welcome. I love it!
And it was lovely to meet you.
Thank you very much.
She's delightful.
That was really lovely.
Gorgeous, gorgeous little baby.
Just so alert
and got this little pout
and smile that just kind of
melts your heart.
Bye!
Yay! I got a smile!
They've obviously struggled
in the beginning, both of them,
in different ways.
Thank you. See you later. Bye! Bye.
I think it's amazing how open
they are about it and honest
because, you know, that will
speak to a lot of people.
It is a struggle.
You know, it's the most
wonderful thing that can happen
to you in your life, but it's
also a struggle and you have
to adjust and adapt, and it's hard
enough in a world that is pre-Covid,
let alone in a world that is
very much at the height of Covid.