Fighting for Life The Midwives

Hi, it's the midwife.

SHE GROANS That's it, that's it. You're doing it, you're doing it.

Little pushes, then. Little pushes.

Oh, my gosh.

When we're at our most vulnerable,

we all need someone who isn't afraid.

I'm your midwife and I'm going to be looking after you.

Midwives are responsible for bringing our children

safely into the world.

Hello, world!

We have to make a very, very intimate relationship with somebody

you've never met before in your life.

I apologise.

You've not done anything wrong.

-OK.

-You're having a baby, you've not killed someone.

But now they're facing the highest birth rate in 40 years.

BABY CRIES

Too many women having babies, that's the problem.

Oooh...

Parents are more demanding.

I just don't feel she's been getting any answers.

And pregnancy is more complicated.

We're worried. Do you know we're worried?

When you see a baby come out like he did you just think, "Oh, no."

Yeah, I'm fine. I just delivered my first baby.

That's the best feeling in the world.

This is what it's really like to be a midwife in Britain today.

WOMAN YELLS

Hello? Hiya.

So they broke your waters this morning, have they?

-Yeah.

-Just I've been reading on the board.

-It was horrible. They broke my waters.

-Got your epidural in now?

-Yes.

-For your contractions?

-Yes.

Aww. And how's baby doing?

-Is he doing all right?

-Quite happy.

It's been so long now.

So much gone on.

Oh, it's going to be lovely.

MIDWIFE CLAPS

So excited for you. I am.

Lauren has been in labour for five hours.

She's been pregnant three times before,

but this is the first time she's having a baby.

How are we doing?

Hello.

-Oh, fantastic.

-Yeah.

Oh, my God!

Oh, brilliant.

-Be strong.

-I'll try.

-Keep going.

-Chin down.

-Chin down. No screaming.

Miranda is a specialist midwife at Saint Mary's Hospital in Manchester.

I'm OK.

She helps women like Lauren who've had several miscarriages.

We saw Lauren in the recurrent miscarriage clinic

after having three early pregnancy losses.

LAUREN YELLS

'When you've lost several pregnancies it must be

'a long time before that baby's actually here.'

-I don't think I can do it!

-You can.

-I want a C-section.

You know, pregnancy's not been nine months.

Some ladies, they may have been trying ten years, some of them,

maybe more, even.

Really good. LAUREN GASPS

LAUREN GASPS And again.

Big deep breath.

It's just such a big deal. It's a really big deal.

We're doing this, this is going to be teamwork now.

-Push, push, push.

-Push into her hands, now.

-Keep going, keep going.

Come on baby, come on, you can do it.

Push this baby out. Good girl. Good girl. Go on! Go on!

LAUREN GASPS

Come on, Lauren.

Big push.

LAUREN YELLS

Awww.

Here's here, he's here.

A little baby.

-Well done, Lauren.

-Well done, he's massive!

Lauren and Alex must have thought that they were never going to get to this point.

So proud of you.

I think if you've gone through so many miscarriages,

you think, "I'm never going to be a mum."

He's perfect.

'Hello, Miranda Hobson?

'Hello! You all right?'

Yeah. Yeah.

It is with a low-lying placenta, Emma.

You need to come in and make sure baby's OK.

Miranda is part of a team of specialist midwives.

They look after women whose pregnancies are high-risk,

either for the mother or baby.

OK, Penny.

These midwives don't deliver babies, instead they see women

for the whole of their pregnancies, doing all they can to help them through.

'Hello, Miranda Hobson?

'Oh, hi, Holly!'

Hello, we keep missing each other.

The fridge?

Why?

Is your fridge an old fridge, or is it a new fridge?

Like old as in 20 years, or fairly new, as in the last ten years?

Oh, Holly, it'll be fine.

Yeah. Yes, it is. It is.

It's not something we see very often at all.

What about cheese?

Cheese is fine, hard cheese is fine.

It's been pasteurised, so it's been blasted, so all the bugs are dead in it.

Yes, it's fine. And we have women who go to rock concerts pregnant!

Oh, Holly.

Oh.

She's worrying about listeria, because she's eaten

a yoghurt out of the fridge that had been there for a week.

You end up giving advice about fridges, and...?

-Yeah.

-..everything.

I do with Holly, yeah. I do with Holly.

Occasionally, you just get people with these questions.

Can we go the long way round? I need to take it easy,

if that's all right.

-And be careful of the bumps.

-No problem.

-Thank you.

Holly is 39.

She has one 14-year-old son and is 28 weeks into this pregnancy.

In the past four years, she's had three unexplained miscarriages

and a baby who died after being born at 30 weeks.

She sees Miranda every fortnight.

MIRANDA: I am foreseeing a very normal pregnancy with Holly.

I think she'll come in on her due date and have a caesarean when it's planned.

The baby is fine, as far as we're concerned at the moment.

It's plodding on really well.

And there's nothing in her body, infection-wise or anything like that,

that we would be concerned about in this pregnancy.

It's the anxiety that we're supporting.

-Hello, Holly!

-Hello.

-How are you doing?

-I'm not having a nervous breakdown, quite.

-Good.

-MIRANDA LAUGHS

-It's just the overriding thing of,

"Oh, my God, I just hope he's OK."

-Mmmm.

-And I keep trying to tell myself,

well, pregnant women go off and they go to work, and they do that

and they do the shopping and they look after other children, but I can't...

..OK that in my head.

-It's as if I'm...

-Oh, Holly, that's fine.

..carrying round some, you know, precious antique china that can't be, you know...

Just every move I make...

It's mixed emotions all the time, isn't it?

-It's a rollercoaster.

-That's the word I was looking for.

We've been on a rollercoaster.

You know, it's ups and downs and ups and downs.

-And we just have to hang tight, haven't we?

-Yeah.

Well, thank you very much. Have a good couple of weeks.

You're welcome. You too.

I'll probably talk to you in the meantime.

MIRANDA LAUGHS Yes, I imagine so.

Hello, is that Jamila? Jamila, it's Gretta here.

How many weeks are you, Jamila?

Are you testing your blood sugars?

You are. And what's the results? Are they OK? Are they normal?

Gretta works alongside Miranda in the clinic.

She's one of two midwives who see women with diabetes,

a condition which can sometimes cause stillbirth.

I never liked diabetes. I didn't want to ever do it.

I reluctantly covered a maternity leave,

and, I think, covered a second maternity leave reluctantly,

and then I fell in love with the job.

-How are you, Mary?

-Fine.

-How many weeks are you now?

-35.

-35?

-Close, aren't you?

-Yeah. Just in grabbing distance.

-See you after you've had your scan.

-Okey-dokey. Thank you.

-She's dead nice, isn't she?

-Mmm-hmm.

Mary is 17 and has had diabetes for six years.

She comes to see Gretta every week, always with her boyfriend, Uri.

INTERVIEWER: Are you enjoying being pregnant?

Are you excited about becoming a dad?

Yeah.

It's like buying baby clothes and baby shoes and, you're thinking,

"He grows up he's going to be a footballer, or boxing."

Said to me the other day, "I hope I'm one of them that give all boys."

That's what I want. A football team.

He always makes sure I've had my insulin on time.

Makes me my breakfast in the morning.

And brings me insulin up, so I get breakfast in bed.

You'll give us some, I don't get that.

-Have you given a urine sample?

-Yeah.

Mary is 35 weeks and near the end of her pregnancy.

It's now that her baby is at greatest risk from her diabetes.

It's any lady with diabetes, when they're coming up

to the last few weeks of pregnancy, I think we all are waiting

-for that lady to deliver.

-The whole team.

We know that if the blood sugars are high towards the end,

the risk of stillbirth is that little bit higher.

It's getting that message across

to Mary, without upsetting her, or...

-Making her anxious.

-Making her anxious about that.

You're sweating a bit. A little bit.

Although stillbirths are rare,

Saint Mary's deal with around 50 a year.

Mary is five times more at risk than women without diabetes.

-You're very tired?

-Yeah.

-What's that about? Do you know why?

-I don't know.

-You don't know why?

-No.

-Any headaches?

-Now and then.

-I've got one now.

-You've got a headache now?

-Yeah.

Loads of questions, Mary. GRETTA LAUGHS

Now, diabetes, did you bring a book with you?

I've been writing in my diary, but I forgot to bring it,

because I was rushing this morning.

Because this is really important.

Another thing I wanted to ask as well,

you know when I'm actually having the baby,

how many people will I be allowed in the room with me?

Two. What are you thinking?

-Four is what I want.

-Oh, you want four!

Oh, my goodness. I can see you breaking every rule, Mary.

GRETTA LAUGHS You've got your own rules, haven't you?

There aren't many teenagers in Gretta's clinic,

but they are often the hardest to handle.

You feel like mothering her. I look at Mary and think of my daughter...

-You have your 16-year-old, yeah.

-And think, "If that was my daughter..."

You just think, "Come on, come on, keep going, keep going."

-"You're doing well, Mary."

-Yeah!

Her concentration span as well... The visitors were a big thing

for her, how many people were on the delivery unit.

And there's no point in talking about blood sugars

if she's moved onto that, because you've lost her.

Or, in the middle of a consultation, when you're doing really well,

you think she's listening and she'll say, "Can I go now?"

You think, "I hope I've got that message across

"about the blood sugars."

Kelly Fox?

-CHILD CHATTERS

-Oh, I've put on.

You have. You have, see.

You can stop worrying now.

Is the baby moving well?

Claire is the specialist midwife for women with kidney problems.

Women like Kelly are endangering their own lives by getting pregnant.

You're never starting off on a straightforward pregnancy.

You're always starting off on the back foot, so to speak.

So you've always got to, at the very beginning ,

when it's, "Congratulations, you're pregnant" with the scan,

but then you still have to go through, "Because of your medical condition

"we need to be doing this, this and this to monitor you."

That's come down. It's much better than it was.

Kelly, husband Rob, and three-year-old daughter Madison

have come to see Claire.

Kelly's 34.

She had a kidney transplant seven years ago, and by getting pregnant

she knows she's putting her new kidney, and life, at risk.

I was told there was a 50/50 chance, really, for having a successful,

healthy pregnancy.

Then I just think, "There's two women in a room and one of us

"had to get picked, I've got just as much chance as anybody else."

Say, bye-bye! 'I thought I'd be quite happy with just one. And I am.'

It's also because I've got Madison,

and I know how fantastic she is,

that makes you want another one.

And if anything happened to me, they've got each other to rely on.

-INTERVIEWER:

-If you were in her position, and you had her history, and you've been given

all these statistics, would you be having a baby?

I think if it was going to be my first baby, possibly.

But then I can see where Kelly comes from

and this could be her last chance.

So, I don't think it's something you can say,

that you would or you wouldn't, until you're in that position.

Just got to support her, really.

I don't think there's any right or wrong.

She's made the decision and we'll see how it goes.

Do you think we'll be able to see if it's a boy or a girl today?

We can certainly look for you.

Madison thinks there's a baby in there for everyone.

Do you?

Kelly is four months pregnant.

Her kidney was weak before she conceived,

and the midwives know there's a chance that pregnancy

could make her so ill they'll have to deliver the baby early.

Here's the body with the heartbeat.

They want to get her as close as possible to the full nine months,

and at least to a point at which the baby could survive.

So, the baby's growing completely normally. This is baby's head.

That's definitely a boy. It's got a brain.

-I think your baby just waved to you, Madison.

-It's waving.

Do you see the little hand?

Madison: Where baby hand?

-There.

-There's a hand.

Let's have a look between the legs.

-I thought I'd just seen something dangling, then.

-Yeah, you wish.

-Do you want me to say in front of Madison?

-Yeah, go on.

-I think it's a little girl.

-Yeah, just then, see?

Very pretty. And just like her big sister. Can you see her?

I knew it would be a girl.

-I feel cheated.

-THEY LAUGH

Never mind, next one might be a boy.

No, I'm joking. This is your lot.

So far, the baby is growing well.

But Kelly's been told her body will struggle as the pregnancy goes on.

There's a chance her kidney transplant could fail completely.

Her kidney's not going to last for ever,

and there is going to come a point where she's going to need dialysis,

so I think in her head it's a case of is she bringing it forward

too quickly, or will the pregnancy bring it forward.

-Morning, darling!

-How are you?

-I read One Day. Have you read it?

-I'm into it.

-How far are you in?

-Not very far. I've seen the film...

-I can't say...

I've seen the film so I know what happens.

-You know she dies?

-Yeah.

Liz, other people might not have read it or seen it

but you have to say the ending every time you talk about things.

-No, I don't!

-You do, you ruined Atonement for me.

The specialist midwives all share one small office.

They see over a thousand women every year.

Throw them in. Pile them up.

Hello, Mary.

How are you?

Are you OK?

17-year-old Mary is now 36 weeks.

There's been a dramatic change in her blood sugars.

Yeah. So when you went home you had no insulin with your tea?

'Because I had a hypo.'

Because you had a hypo. And what was your blood sugar? When you said hypo?

Good girl.

I'm just wondering, you know, Mary, with all this,

should you come in and be checked out today.

Hmmm.

Let me phone the doctors and get back to you. OK?

But definitely, we definitely want you in tomorrow.

She's needing less insulin for some reason,

and we're not quite sure what that is.

It's different. And anything that's a little bit different is not right.

And then we act on that.

Having spoken to the doctors, Gretta's fears are confirmed.

Mary's baby could be in serious danger

and Gretta has to get her to come in urgently.

Hello, Mary. Me again.

Gretta's worried that if Mary feels hassled,

she may stop taking her calls altogether.

Mary, we'd like you to come in.

Today.

Oh, Mary. You're pushing it.

GRETTA LAUGHS

You know yourself that we've always said all along, haven't we,

we said that if something changes then you're safer in here.

Yeah.

OK. We'll give you a ring later on, and see how you go. OK?

She said, "I'll come in tomorrow.

"What's the point in hanging around tonight?" She's got...

-No way!

-Yeah. She assures me, she said,

"Even as I'm talking to you my baby is moving."

She likes to be the boss.

-INTERVIEWER:

-How do you feel about her not coming in?

-Nervous.

Maybe you just have to speak very straight to her

and tell her the risk.

And there are real worries.

Right, I'll see you in a couple of weeks.

SHE YAWNS

Amanda, look at these. She's leaving.

-Aww. Has she sent them to you?

-Yeah.

Aren't they lovely? Is it a boy?

-Yeah.

-What have they called him?

-Austin.

-Austin?

Oh, look at that! That is beautiful.

Hello, Mary. SHE MOUTHS

Mary still isn't listening

and Gretta decides to pile on the pressure.

What you need to do is come in NOW for a trace of your baby.

She needs to monitor the baby's heart rate to make sure it's OK.

And it's all a rush for you today.

Why?

Mary, do you know how important this is? I'm worried, Susan's worried.

Doctor Maresh is worried.

Pardon? As soon as you can get in.

All right. OK, well done, Mary. Good girl.

Take care. Bye. Bye.

She's coming in, on her terms again. But she is coming in.

Brilliant.

-Yeah.

-She hasn't seen what we've seen, though.

-That's it.

She doesn't know.

We've seen a tragic ending and she hasn't

-and she'll never comprehend what might happen.

-No.

I know that things can go wrong. I know that things do happen.

And I know what that feels like, I know that I don't want to go there again.

And I know how desperately we want to be able to bring this baby

home and have him and cuddle him and kiss him and look after him.

Holly is now 29 weeks, a week away from when her last baby died.

Her anxiety is getting worse.

-HOLLY SIGHS

-I'm very wobbly today, I have to say.

What, wobbly when you're walking, or...?

I think it's very hard for other people to understand sometimes,

because I must sound as if I'm completely bonkers to normal people.

Over the last week, I've managed to drop a block of cheese on him,

drop a serving spoon on him whilst I was cooking the dinner,

gave myself an electric shock from my mobile phone charger yesterday.

It's just that, sort of, if he is born

and he's alive, is there going to be something wrong with him?

'None of the questions are silly questions,

'they're all relevant because she's thought about them.'

-Do you feel a bit more reassured, or not? Or it just doesn't help?

-Oh, I'm sorry.

I think if she went to see a community midwife,

or presented at triage saying, "I've dropped a spoon,"

or "I've dropped a chunk of cheese on my belly

"and I'm worried about the baby,"

I think they'd be a bit shocked

and surprised that this lady was presenting with this problem.

-Thank you very much.

-All right, Holly.

We know where she's coming from and hopefully we can reassure her.

-I shall see you in a few weeks.

-Okey-doke. Ta-ra.

I'm sure it must help coming to see the same person all the time.

Zumba tonight.

Release all me stress.

I hope it's not too busy.

Mary has finally come in and Gretta has put the baby

on a heart rate monitor to see how it's doing.

-URI:

-The more you wait, the more excited you get.

-No. No.

-Yeah.

-No.

The longer you wait, the worser it is.

OK, well, I'll speak with Doctor Maresh

when we've done another piece on this trace, yeah?

-And then see.

-But I hate sitting and waiting.

-I know.

I know you hate that, yeah.

I'm not worried about you.

That's nice! >

-LAUGHTER

-It's... I'm worried about the baby.

With you not knowing, really,

what quite to expect with blood sugars, do you?

I don't know how the baby is.

Because you're only 36 weeks, this is going to get

your blood sugars a little bit, make sure your blood sugars are more stable.

The team want to keep Mary in hospital

for the rest of her pregnancy.

This way they can act quickly if the baby's in distress.

See you tomorrow.

See ya.

My plan was for tonight to get a nice hot bath,

get my pyjamas on, sit down, watch the soaps.

Now I'm stuck in here, staring at white walls, and no TV.

-INTERVIEWER: How are you coping, Uri?

-Me? All right.

I was just speechless for words.

Mary and Uri met on Facebook just over a year ago.

They still live with their families,

but are planning to move in together once the baby is born.

INTERVIEWER: Are you worried about Mary?

No, course not.

Only joking. Yeah, I am.

I just want him to be born now, that's the main thing, innit?

INTERVIEWER: Who's going to be in the birthing room with you?

My nanna.

Uri's going to cut the cord and I hope it squirts in his face!

'How important is your nanna to you?'

Very important, cos my nanna and grandad took us in

about seven years ago, when my mum lost my brother David

and she had depression and stuff like that.

'So what happened with your mum and David?'

It was actually when I was living with my mum,

she was pregnant with my little brother,

and one night she got up and she started to bleed.

And obviously I was panicking even though I was young.

I was about eight, I think.

I ran out, in just my knickers, to one of the neighbours

and she phoned an ambulance.

And then my mum's come running down the street, bleeding like mad.

Really, she should have stayed at home and made sure the blood

wasn't coming out as fast, but you don't think at the time, so...

She ended up having...I don't know what it's called. But baby ended up being dead. So...

'Do you remember it really clearly?'

Yeah, I remember it like it was yesterday.

'Do you ever think about that with this pregnancy?'

No, not really. I try not to, if anything.

Everyone's been through something in life,

and you have to get over it and deal with it.

Gretta's finished her day and is going home.

-MARY:

-I want to go home.

I hear another kid screaming.

Two hours later, against Gretta's advice,

Mary discharges herself from hospital.

You going to do Mum's blood pressure first?

Yeah, yeah, I get to press it!

-All by myself!

-All by yourself?

Right, ready, go.

-MACHINE WHIRS

-Thank you.

-Are you Mum's nurse?

-Yeah.

This is my poorly mummy.

Kelly is only halfway through her pregnancy

and already her health is suffering.

These ones are my blood pressure tablets,

they're my anti-rejection tablets, rotational antibiotic

and one to stop me getting stomach ulcers from all the tablets I take!

On top of her kidney problems, Kelly has started to itch constantly.

It's so unbearable, she can't sleep.

Now, itching.

What are you taking? What did they start you on?

-The URSO.

-The Ursodeoxycholic acid.

-Has it helped?

-No. Maybe a little bit.

A little bit.

-Are you sleeping any better?

-No.

-Oh, dear.

And you said you'd got a bit of an infection on your leg.

-Can I have a look?

-Yeah.

Oh, Kelly.

-That's from scratching?

-Yeah.

Right, well, Doctor Venning's here, so I think he's going to have a look.

So, it's slightly unusual...

The doctors don't know what's causing Kelly's itching

and they're worried it could mean her liver isn't working properly.

It could affect her chances of making it through the pregnancy.

So increase the URSO to three, three times a day.

And then we can go up to four, three times a day and then

over that is illegal dosing, which we may have to do.

"Put up and shut up, Mummy!"

No, not put up with it, it's miserable.

Absolutely miserable.

Oh, dear, your poor mummy.

If I was scratching like she was every day, it would drive me insane.

I don't think people appreciate it...

And until you'd had it solidly for yourself for two or three weeks,

then you might get an idea of actually how miserable that can be.

It's a week-to-week assessment of how she's doing.

Holly is nearly 30 weeks pregnant.

It was at this point two years ago, that she lost a baby.

I decided that there should definitely be a new form of therapy on the NHS.

Crochet therapy.

It's so meditative, you see, especially if you're counting,

because you can't then think about other things.

So it's helped a lot with my anxiety.

But it was a life-saver, really, as well, just after Arthur died,

because I crocheted him a blanket...

..to be buried in.

So he's wrapped up in something that I made for him.

But I don't know what I'd have done in that first week

if I hadn't had something to do with my hands.

Hello, Holly, it's Miranda.

How are you doing?

Oh.

Oh.

Maybe it's just with you both being full of a cold...

You know, like we talked before about this 30 week point, and...

maybe it's just the build-up to that, Holly, that's making it all

a bit worse at the moment.

Richard came out yesterday with the fact that...

He said, "I don't know if I can love the baby."

And she said, "I think that's what..."

Cos they're coming up to this 30-week period when they lost Arthur...

Holly married Richard in 2009.

She already had one son, Elliot, by a previous relationship.

Holly and Richard had one miscarriage

and then Holly got pregnant again.

But at 20 weeks, her waters broke and she was put on complete bed rest.

There was a very traumatic period

where we didn't know what was going to happen.

It was three months in the end.

We had scans fortnightly

so we could see how little fluid there was there.

But he was growing consistently

so we thought there was a chance, really, at the end.

And then one day, I was at work

and I got a call that she'd been quite ill

and she'd been rushed into hospital again.

So I went over to the hospital straight away

but he'd already been born by that stage.

Apparently he'd cried just one, solitary cry.

I heard him cry, which gave me hope.

I'd kind of got it into my head that if he cried

when he was born then his lungs would be working

and maybe that would be a sign that things would be OK.

But what had happened was he'd got an infection

that hadn't shown up in me.

I was passed a sheet of paper which confirmed his name and birth weight

and then it dawned on me that I must be a father.

So the initial thought when I looked at him was,

"This is incredible, and amazing."

Arthur was put on a ventilator to help him breathe.

-HOLLY:

-After six hours of him not responding, his other organs

started failing because of the lack of oxygen in his blood supply.

He died in our arms.

He was perfect.

'Some people will give up at that point,

'they wouldn't embark on another pregnancy.'

It must be horrible to come into hospital pregnant

and go home with no baby. I couldn't think of anything worse.

I couldn't think of anything worse.

MIDWIFE: Keep going. Breathe the gas, don't give up on it. It's really good stuff.

It's three days since Mary discharged herself from hospital.

-I'm not going to be able to do this.

-You are!

Now she's 37 weeks,

and the team are worried about the pregnancy continuing any further.

They've made her come in to be induced.

-I forgot people can be in labour for, like, 20 hours.

-Eh?

'No, we're not planning on that happening, we're hoping not.

'We are interfering a little bit, aren't we?

'So hopefully it won't happen like that.'

With diabetic women we do try to bring on the labour a bit quicker.

She's been fairly stable throughout.

Obviously, she's had a few hypos today.

But it's just keeping an eye, because obviously there are complications.

Mary is high risk, and closely monitored.

Her blood sugars are checked every hour.

Right, we're going to have to get you some glucose.

Bear with me, I shall go and get the docs, love, don't worry.

Mary's blood sugars have fallen to a dangerous level.

'Right, I've got you some Dextrose tablets, which I'm sure you're used to by now.'

She's given sugar tablets to stop her falling unconscious.

-Is the baby OK?

-Baby's absolutely fine.

-She should be on a sliding scale.

-Yeah, she should.

-She was throwing off hypos in the induction...

-I know...

So we need to go and see her on the ward rounds.

Half an hour later, the tablets have worn off.

The team put Mary on a drip to regulate her blood sugars.

MARY WAILS

And again, Mary, breathe the gas again.

Come on, good girl.

Good girl, come on. Mary, breathe for me, sweetheart.

Come on, that will help you through.

Good girl. That's it.

We'll have to see if we can get baby again in a minute,

cos he's gone walkabout.

Let me see.

I just need to get to your tummy and see where this baby's gone.

Now the baby is starting to show signs of distress.

Its heart rate has become irregular.

We'll check in a second, we'll see what's happening.

MARY WAILS

Don't bloody push it out when I'm not in there.

-I just want to get it out now.

-I know you do, sweetheart.

We're getting late dips, so just...

The baby's heart rate remains unstable.

Now, Mary's contractions have slowed down.

The doctors decide they can't wait any more.

They need to deliver the baby.

On the next contraction, I'm going to give you a small episiotomy

and see if the baby comes out without putting the suction cup on.

I'm hoping it should. All right?

-OK, that's a sharp scratch now, all right?

-Have you got a pain there?

-Go on. Go on, go on, go on.

-Good, good, good, that's it!

Keep it coming, keep it coming!

-Brilliant.

-Brilliant. So I'm going to give you a small cut now...

He's doing it!

Little push again, little push again. Go on, Mary.

Keep going. Well done. Little push. Breathe. Good girl.

How many more pushes, do you think?

You're just waiting for another pain,

and with the next pain your baby's going to be born.

-Do I have to push now?

-If you've got a pain, let's go for it.

Come on, baby's coming.

That's it, the head's just there now.

That's fantastic, keep it going.

Good girl. Brilliant! Well done!

-Congratulations! There you go!

-Is that 25 past?

Absolutely fine.

That's it, and again. There we go.

Well done, you. You did brilliant.

See, he looks absolutely perfect, nobody's worried about him.

Oh, I'm so proud now. I'm a mum.

-Oh! Can I come in?

-Yeah.

Fantastic. Well done, you! I don't even know...

-Have you got a boy?

-Yeah.

-Have you? What's his name?

-Mason.

Oh, well done. Everything went OK? Yeah?

I didn't think it was going to be...

-And do you feel OK now?

-Yeah.

-You look amazing,

you don't look like you've delivered.

-Hello, you.

-He only weighed seven pound one.

-Seven/one?

Well, look at him. He's just beautiful. Isn't he gorgeous?

He's lovely. Fantastic. Just so relieved.

Just the best news we've heard, because last week was so tough

and she took up a lot of our time last week

and now there's just this sense of relief.

Even from Mary, I think, the stress has gone from her face,

she looks relieved as well. It's just the nicest part of it, to see that.

Kelly is 22 weeks.

Her itching has become so bad, she's been admitted to hospital.

It's a sign that her body is really struggling with the pregnancy.

Kelly came in on Friday, she didn't look well.

Her bilirubin, which is one of the liver function tests,

had gone quite high, which would indicate...

You can get some clinical jaundice, which is the yellowness.

So I spoke with Dr Gillham, the consultant, and decided to admit her.

How are you doing?

You wanted a word?

I just wanted to know if I could take these tablets.

How long is it going to take till I'll know if they've worked?

Just keep putting your cream on,

we'll get as much cream as we can for you.

-'Are you worried about her?'

-'I am worried about the liver bloods.'

The worst case scenario would be that she could end up with

liver failure or kidney failure.

Which then will mean possibly dialysis for the kidney,

which isn't great in pregnancy.

I'll be happier when she's got to 24 weeks,

to know the baby could be viable, in a sense.

Claire's come and seen me already.

-You've not had a good night, I gather.

-No.

OK, 40 minutes' sleep?

The team have always known that Kelly was unlikely

to make it through nine months of pregnancy

but at this stage it's too early to deliver her.

They need to find a way of helping Kelly that won't harm her baby.

Speaking to some colleagues, there's something else I want to try, OK?

It's a drug called naloxone, that we give by infusion.

It's not something that is used in pregnancy

because it's not normal that the itch is bad enough to need it.

I'll be honest, I can't find a reason not to use it

-but there's no evidence that I should, either.

-OK.

-Does that make sense?

Where you are at the moment is quite an extreme place,

so I'm trying things that I wouldn't normally try.

I'm happy to try them for you, but it's done on the understanding

that we both understand this is something that we wouldn't usually do.

-Yeah.

-But not doing something is not an option either.

-Does that make sense to you?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Thank you very much.

Kelly has to wait until the doctors can give her the new drug overnight.

She's had hardly any sleep in the last four days.

If the team can't find something that works,

Kelly's only option may be to end the pregnancy.

It's everything together, do you know what I mean?

It's not just one little thing - I could cope with the itching,

I could cope with not getting a bit of sleep...

I can't even manage to get dressed...

It's cold touching me.

And the pain that I'm in is unbelievable.

It's like there's...

I can't even tell you how much I wanted this baby and it's like...

I know it's not the baby's fault

but I can't stand the thought of it being in there another day.

Cos of the way it's making me feel.

I feel like it's taking me away from Madison, do you know what I mean?

I feel like it's taking me away from who I am.

I cannot physically go on for another two months like this.

I can't.

I feel like I'm dying inside.

I just feel so tired.

Holly has made it past 30 weeks

and is slowly starting to prepare for her baby's arrival.

It's going to be the silliest hat in the universe.

I'm making it up as I go along.

She's been offered a caesarean and it's booked in at 38 weeks,

less than two weeks away.

I always liked what my friend Gemma said after her first daughter died.

She felt like her life had gone into black and white but then

when she had her subsequent daughter, her second baby,

she felt like everything had gone back into glorious technicolour.

I think we've put so much on hold and so much has been in limbo,

I'm hoping that this will be a whole new beginning.

INTERVIEWER: I wanted to ask about Elliot as well

and how you think he's handled the past few years.

Erm, exceedingly well, given that he's only an early teenager.

He's been through an awful lot and he's had to cope with an awful lot.

Have you started to talk about things more than you would have in the past?

-Yeah, we sorted out the clothes and the toys, didn't we, Mum?

-Yeah.

And you didn't really want that to happen, did you, Richard?

Well, I was comfortable with it by the time we did it.

I'd have been uncomfortable three months ago.

It was actually quite nice to see them when I got home, all laid out.

There's not very much time left.

No, not really. Just two weeks.

That's time to greet.

INTERVIEWER: I like this word greet, rather than meet.

Well, I just didn't think meet was the right word.

I think we've already met him, we've seen him on the scans

but we just haven't really said a proper hello yet.

And then he'll actually be able to hear us properly.

I think once I do get a brother,

I think I'll wish that I had a brother a bit earlier.

Kelly has been given the new drug overnight.

They hope it will ease the itching, and allow her to sleep.

What happened last night, did it work?

No.

SHE SIGHS Not at all?

Yeah, mornings are the worst.

Hello, sweetheart.

No joy.

Oh, darling.

It's not good.

From her notes, I think they have discussed termination.

Because she seems so...

You can just see her, she can't carry on like this.

She can't keep going like this.

It's all right, Kelly. Come on, darling. Come on.

Careful. Careful. Wait. On your feet.

-Where were you trying to get, sweetheart?

-I don't know.

You don't know?

PHONE RINGS

Hi, Fran? We've just found her on the floor, delirious.

She didn't know where she was going.

Do things like this happen a lot?

No. I've never had this before in one of my women.

Claire's worried that Kelly is in no fit state

to be deciding on a termination.

-INTERVIEWER:

-Do you know what to do?

Erm, no, not at the minute.

The decision that she's thinking of making, that's a big, big decision.

And what you don't want is, two months down the line,

for her to think, "But what if I had tried that?"

You know, it would be a different matter

if she was 10 or 11 weeks pregnant but she's not, she's 22.

'Hi, Angus, I'm sorry to bother you. Claire Mullen may have explained

'about the situation with this girl, Kelly Fox...'

If the team can get Kelly through the next two weeks,

then at 24 weeks they could deliver the baby early

and there's a small chance it would survive.

-Is that nice?

-Overnight, the doctors have taken a risk.

They've given Kelly a high dose of the drug, in an injection.

It's paid off and eased the itching.

-She's finally got a few hours' sleep.

-Hello.

I'll see if we can give her that one-off injection again.

It does make a bit of a difference, doesn't it?

It worked. It must have worked for about three hours...

She was asleep earlier, so I thought...

I got here and she was crashed out.

She looks a lot better, her face and eyes looked a bit sunken...

Well, you know what difference it makes, don't you?

I feel happier now that she's doing better.

If she continues to have that injection

and she's getting a few hours where it's better and she can sleep,

I think she'll certainly get through the weekend.

Holly's caesarean is in three days.

This is her last visit to the clinic.

Oh, it's nice and toasty warm!

Something sticking out there, is it a little foot?

-Erm, I think so, cos his head's sitting here.

-Yeah.

I can't... I still can't. I just...

-Visualise?

-No.

Keep yourself busy the next few days and it's all go.

See you Thursday.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

I'll be thinking of you.

And you, Richard. I shall be thinking of you on Thursday.

-Thank you.

-I will.

I can't believe that's going to be the last time...

-That we see her here.

-..that we see her in the antenatal clinic.

-She looks so much better than she did.

-Oh, so much better today!

Hopefully it will all come together.

-I'm excited.

-I'm so excited!

-Wonder what it's going to look like?

-I don't know.

Hi, Mike, it's Claire. Hmm...

well, we're looking very yellow today, bless her.

Yeah, after everything.

Two weeks later, the new drugs have continued to help Kelly.

She's made it to 24 weeks.

From here on, her baby would have a chance of survival

if it had to be delivered.

So two hours today, Kelly, OK?

But the pregnancy has come at a huge cost.

Kelly's kidney is no longer working.

She's had to go on dialysis.

She's spending two hours a day, five days a week,

on a machine which replaces her kidney, cleaning her blood.

I'm just worried as to how she'll cope with the dialysis,

cos she's been through it before, she knows what it entails.

And it was something she really didn't want.

We was warned that it could happen,

along with another big list of different things that could happen.

Just didn't think it would.

INTERVIEWER: Do you feel like this is for ever now, then?

Part of me keeps thinking,

"No, everything will be all right."

But then the reality kicks in

and I just think, "Probably."

Her kidney could have lasted 15 years

but the pregnancy has cut its life short.

The likelihood is, whether it be 12 months

or a good few years down the line,

she may need another transplant

and she will get to a point where she'll be on daily dialysis

until another transplant is needed.

Big day. Holly. Baby.

Come on, I can't wait!

-Hello!

-Hello.

I've run round in my coffee break, to see where you're up to.

Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.

I'm terrified. Terrified, terrified.

-Did you sleep last night?

-No.

Everything's gone very surreal this morning.

-Well, you're here.

-Yes.

-All right, I shall see you in a bit.

-See you in a bit.

Holly and Richard have been trying for a baby for four years.

This is her sixth pregnancy.

'Theatre to midwife.'

'It's just if you could attend the section in theatre.

'We're not quite knife-to-skin yet but the spinal anaesthetic is in.'

There we go.

What he should be. Monty.

Look at you!

Oh, he's gorgeous.

Isn't he lovely?

Congratulations, Holly. I'll just go and give him a quick dry off, OK?

Then I'll bring him back to you.

BABY CRIES

Why are you crying? It's your birthday.

HOLLY CRIES

Oh, my God, he's lovely.

I think we need to take bets on how quickly Miranda and Liz will arrive.

Hello.

BOTH: Look at him!

-Isn't he just gorgeous?

-He's beautiful.

-Oh, Holly, he's beautiful. Look at his blond hair!

-I know!

He's like a little angel.

-And how much does he weigh? He looks quite a big boy.

-Eight/four.

BOTH: Oooh.

I can't believe it. How are you?

I'm OK, yes. I'm just... Oh, it's just so fantastic.

This is our reward. It is. It is.

I just wanted you to know, I just...

Honestly, I don't know how I would have got through it without you.

-I really, really appreciate...

-I'm glad we could be there for you.

Relieved.

-Rewarded.

-Yeah.

An achievement.

THEY LAUGH

It's happy.

-Happy tears, aren't they?

-Yeah.

Just so happy to see the baby.

Baby's fine. Baby's heartbeat's fine.

Kelly's doing wonderful, she's not uncomfortable.

She has bled a little bit, but she's in labour so we're not too worried.

Your baby will be delivered today at some point, I'm quite sure of that.

Kelly has been in hospital for more than two months.

Despite the dialysis and the drugs,

her body can't cope with the pregnancy any longer.

At 31 weeks and 6 days, her waters have broken.

You OK? D'you feel like someone's washing up in your tummy?

The baby's in a difficult position

so the team have to give Kelly an emergency caesarean.

The cord round the neck...

They don't know what condition the baby will be in.

Come on, you.

Thank you.

Come on, you, little one.

They're just making sure she's OK.

They're doing everything they'd normally do

with a baby that's just short of 32 weeks

but she appears to be perfect.

That's all I can tell you at the moment, but she's beautiful.

Well done. Aren't you clever? All right.

Kelly's baby is two months premature

so she will need to spend her first few weeks on the neonatal unit.

But all the signs are good.

She's done really, really well.

I'm really pleased that we got her to 32 weeks.

To know that she's delivered but she's OK and that baby's OK,

it's a huge relief.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Oh, hello.

Get you!

From seeing her at 23 weeks, to seeing how stressed she was

and how unwell she was and how she was feeling,

it's just such a huge difference.

She looks amazing, really good.

Glad that I stuck it out.

Hello, is that Rhoda? It's one of the midwives at Saint Mary's Hospital.

Both the results are a little bit too high...

If you're worried about something or you want

to sound something out with somebody, we're quite happy for you

to phone us here and we'll have a chat with you.

Hello, come in.

I can just relax again.

Shhh.

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