Room Service The Midwives

-Hi, it's the midwife.

-Urgh.

-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."

-SHE LAUGHS

You 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.

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

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

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

-Parents are more demanding...

-She just don't feel that she's been getting any answers.

..and pregnancies 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, yeah - I'm fine. I just delivered my first baby.

That was the best feeling in the world.

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

SHE SCREAMS

Every month, 1,300 pregnant women

come to the Wirral's maternity unit for a check-up or to give birth.

Most are sent home soon afterwards, but some have to stay in hospital.

No-one thinks about if there's problems in pregnancy

and afterwards you just expect that you're going to walk home

with your baby and it doesn't always happen like that.

Women who can't go home end up on the maternity ward,

where ward sister Tracey is in charge.

On the maternity ward, we can have a lady in one room who's really, really unwell

and needs a lot of medical intervention from the midwife...

Hello! I've got more drugs for you.

..and in the next room, you could just have a couple of new parents

who just need help learning how to be parents.

You are big trouble. 'A lot of people go home from the labour ward.'

The people who come up here tend to be up here for a bit longer,

so you do get more involved with them.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Go on now. Don't be scared.

I'm too scared to.

Instead of the traditional open ward,

this NHS hospital offers most of its maternity patients

their very own en suite room.

It's a bit like we are running a hotel.

The only difference between us and a hotel is that you've got

a midwife who, you know, who's going to be looking after you.

Behind each of the 26 doors is a different challenge for Tracey

and the team of midwives.

Stay as long as you want, go home when you want.

It's not a prison and we're not going to kick you out.

If you need to stay, then you need to stay,

but after about four days, we will be asking you to leave!

24-year-old Holly is checking into the maternity ward.

She's 38 weeks pregnant,

but her bump is much bigger than it should be.

Let's have a little feel of this tummy of yours.

Over the past few weeks, midwives had been keeping a close eye on her.

-So, were you measuring large for dates, were you?

-Yeah.

She's got a condition called polyhydramnios -

there's too much fluid round the baby.

-You're getting kicks all over.

-There's a foot there.

If the amount of fluid increases,

it could cause life-threatening complications in labour.

-Let me get you.

-Thank you.

-There we go. All right?

So, we have to weigh you. Come and have a stand on here.

You weigh more than me.

That's terrible. I'll shield you. Don't let him see.

It's fine.

-It's not a competition.

-We're about the same, babe.

Holly's being kept in hospital

because her condition is getting worse.

Just need you to slide down a smidge just to have a feel of your tummy.

Just a little bit more. Are you all right with your skirt?

MICROPHONE ROARS

It's really kicking me in the ribs really hard.

There's now so much fluid in Holly's bump,

it's pressing on her lungs.

I can't breathe.

I really can't breathe.

Even though she's still two weeks away from her due date,

doctors have decided to give Holly a drug to induce labour.

She's being induced today

because of the excess fluid,

because we know that there is a greater risk -

there could be a greater risk -

of problems towards the latter stages of pregnancy.

She could start to have some contractions and some niggles

because it's a hormone that's been introduced,

but some people react and some people don't.

So I'll start getting contractions today?

-You might well do, you might well do.

-Will it hurt?

-Yes, it's going to hurt.

-OK.

Now that the process has begun, it's not safe for Holly to go home.

We keep people in once the induction's started

because we've intervened. We'll listen to the foetal heart

and do the mum's observations constantly till the baby's delivered

and at any point the baby becomes unhappy

or mum becomes unwell, she could end up with an emergency Caesarea.,

So if she was at home and we went there to do that then,

you know, she could come back and, you know, the baby could have died,

because they are strong drugs that we use to induce labours.

So that's why they need to be here with us.

They said cos it's earlier,

if they induce and it goes wrong then I'd have to have a Caesarean

and I really don't want a Caesarean,

but I'm just hoping, fingers crossed, that everything goes OK.

Morning. Do you want a clean bed, love?

The refurbished maternity ward has only been open for two years.

You've got your own little room, your own little bed.

Your own shower in the bathroom and someone comes

and cleans your room every morning. You get three square meals a day.

-Want a sandwich?

-It's a nice environment for the ladies.

You got a nice room and en suite and all that,

so people get into that kind of mode,

but they have to remember it is the NHS!

I have been asked what laundry services are available

and do we have a "Do not disturb" sign?!

And have we got a mini bar?

THEY LAUGH

Tracey has been ward sister here for a year.

As well as the day-to-day running of the ward,

she is also responsible for patient satisfaction.

Everyone gets a patient questionnaire.

"Were you involved as much as you wanted to be in decisions about your care?"

"Did you find someone to talk about your worries and fears?"

"Did someone show you where the toilets were located?"

Every room has got an en suite toilet

and you wouldn't believe that, when I first came in to the post,

85% of the women said that they were shown,

so the 15% didn't actually realise that the room in their room

was a toilet and I have to do an action plan about that.

We had our ward meeting and I said to the girls,

when you get a patient who comes into the room, make sure you say,

"This is your toilet."

There's a new arrival on the maternity ward.

31-year-old Claire and her boyfriend Dan

have just been transferred 130 miles from their local hospital.

-OK. And you're getting plenty of movements?

-Lots.

Claire's own health problems

are making her pregnancy extremely high risk.

She has problems with her thyroid, she has diabetes, she has

renal problems, as well.

'It is difficult looking after these ladies because they are,

'as you say, high maintenance,'

but not in a nasty way,

sort of, like, their needs are great.

And which side do you get your kicks mostly?

The medical team fear her baby's life could be at risk.

They may be forced to deliver Claire's baby prematurely.

My blood pressure had gone up,

to the point where they were concerned about it, so they said,

"Well, you'll need to come in now and basically stay until delivery."

-So...

-And then, on...

what, Monday morning, about one o'clock,

your blood pressure went through the roof.

-Really high.

-Really high.

And then, because there were no cots available at all, we got moved here,

which is rather a long way away.

That's sort of a bit of a worry as well, isn't it?

That if they had suddenly decided in the middle of the night,

"Well, this isn't going to go any further for you.

"We're going to have to deliver," and I have to ring Dan at home

and he's two at a half hours away... We're up in the air, really.

The couple don't know how long Claire will need to stay.

Dan has to return home to work.

They do get lonely, and especially her partner's three and a half, four hours drive away

and he can't be here all the time, so she's in a new environment

all by herself in a stage of her pregnancy where it's, you know...

There can be decisions day by day, really,

whether she's going to be delivered or what's going to happen to her.

How's she doing?

Tonight, I'm responsible for 12 mums and 12 babies.

And a lot of my babies tonight are on baby observations

and a lot of my ladies tonight have had sections,

so they need four-hourly obvs, as well.

Can I do baby's obvs? Is that OK?

So I'm obvs queen tonight.

We're like chameleons.

We go from one room, where we look after that woman,

and it's a really high impact, high intensive workload,

and we'll go next door and what's it give to give a hug? Nothing.

Hello? Still not settling?

She started crying, so I picked her up

and then she was just farting on me, so I changed her nappy.

She's not going anywhere. Has she changed her mind?

No, she's not going.

What about two, three, four five and six,

cos we're going to have to move them off the ward, aren't we?

The maternity ward is usually full to capacity.

It's Tracey's job to juggle beds.

Every morning when I come to work

the first thing I do is come and look at the board,

the patient list, and see who's here,

who needs to be here and who doesn't need to be here.

The maternity ward isn't just for mums waiting to have their babies.

The labour ward downstairs is busy round the clock.

Every birth means a mum who could need one of Tracey's beds.

Is that a bed being booked for room 18?

Because if you want to bring someone up

and put them into room 18, you can take somebody down.

We haven't got a room for the lady to go into until you take one,

if you know what I mean.

What it's been a case of this morning is,

as quick as we've emptied a bed, somebody's in it.

This morning, there's a new resident on the maternity ward.

24-year-old Alyson has had a long, traumatic labour.

She doesn't even have the strength to pick up her baby.

I feel really frustrated, cos I can't do much with him,

because I'm so exhausted and just, obviously, after all the pain

and the pain relief that I had and the epidural, I can't walk much,

so it's just frustrating watching everyone else

get to feed him and carry him

and be able to hold the weight of him and I can't, so...

He's thrown up.

'I mean, everyone has really high expectations, don't they,'

and everyone likes to think that they're just going to come in,

pop the baby out, go home and be supermum and it's not always the case,

and that's why people get quite disillusioned and get upset,

because things happen in labour, don't they?

It's not always how you imagine it's going to be.

Midwife Lorraine has been keeping a close eye on Alyson

since she came up to the ward.

I'm going to make you some toast, all right,

and then we'll give you a hand to get into the shower, all right?

And then you might feel a little bit better.

You definitely look as though you've got a little bit more colour in you.

You look better than you did when I walked in earlier on.

God!

I was worried about you!

She didn't look very well this morning when we went in.

She did look rather drained. She was sort of grey.

Well, translucent.

Alyson isn't feeling strong enough to hold her baby...

..so new dad Ray is learning the ropes on his own.

BABY CRIES

And just bringing forward like that. There we go. And do his back. Hello.

You've got lots of hair, haven't you?

That's all you need to do, really, in the bath.

I know I'm making it look easy, but you will get used to it.

-Have you got clean clothes? Do you want to put them on him?

-Yeah.

I've got a little... Will that make him better, or...?

No, it's all right. He won't need the hat.

I can see why they are shell-shocked.

You know, some people have never really been in contact with babies before, have they?

So if you've never been in contact with a baby, you wouldn't know

how to change a nappy, you wouldn't really know why they're crying.

It's really hard. I'd find it really, really difficult.

I'm going to put you down now. OK?

All right. All right.

OK. All right. OK.

All right. Three down: "Soft leather".

Suede.

Down the corridor, Holly's baby is showing no signs of arriving.

Male sheep?

-Ram.

-It's been four hours since the induction began.

She's not allowed to leave the hospital,

so all she and Lee can do is wait.

Bored.

I thought I'd be in labour by now.

But I don't think anything is happening.

I won't be surprised if they just say, "Go home."

When the inductions are admitted to the ward,

they're absolutely desperate for the baby to be born that day,

that minute, and in the next room you could have somebody

who's going to go into premature labour and she's in hospital

because we are trying to stop her going into labour.

If she's really premature, we'll do everything

we can to stop that baby being born.

No, but, if she's not in labour, why do they want to transfer her?

Because we are absolutely heaving.

A nearby hospital has asked the ward to find a space

for a patient who's had contractions six weeks early.

Got a new transfer coming in.

If she wasn't in the ambulance, I wouldn't be doing this.

-To the left.

-Hello.

-Hiya.

Michelle and her partner Donna are expecting twins.

I started getting a few pains.

Have you got one there now, yeah?

I can definitely feel them, yeah.

'We wanted to have a way that we were both involved,'

so we've used my eggs and donor sperm

and Michelle's carrying, so it'll be my biological babies,

but Michelle will be the birth mother.

The plan is that after this pregnancy,

we would switch over to use Michelle's eggs

and for me to carry, because we'd want all our children

to have the same donor, so they were all related.

How did you choose the sperm donor?

You get things like height, eye colour, hair colour,

occupation, education status and things that they like doing.

So education status was quite a big one for us.

Because we've both got degrees, so we wanted...

You've got a masters, I'm doing my masters at the minute, so...

We just want them to have the best opportunity.

About one every ten minutes at the moment. Obviously, if they continue

I'll speak to one of the doctors on labour ward and just check.

If they get more frequent, they might want to transfer you downstairs, but...

..we shall see.

It's just, like, an endless worry and concern.

Couple of hours and no movement and you're thinking,

"Why hasn't it moved for two hours?"

Just a constant source of worry.

Lorraine is dealing with one of the sadder aspects

of working on the ward.

She's looking after a lady

whose unborn baby has died at just 20 weeks.

The midwives deal with two stillbirths every month.

That is the big postmortem book.

So she's got to fill all of that in

and it's probably better off getting as much done beforehand,

so that she's...

Because obviously she's going to be...

upset afterwards.

When an unborn baby dies, the mother still has to give birth.

The midwives here on the maternity ward will help her.

At 20 weeks, they're only very small, anyway,

so they tend to not be as difficult to deliver as a full-term baby,

because they are only very small. But she still will get the pain,

so we're just making sure we've got adequate pain relief for her.

She can have as much she likes.

That's it, because it's not go to be affecting the baby, you know?

So I need a book of remembrance, don't I?

You tend to not dwell on it,

because you're there to look after the mum and make sure that she's OK,

so you don't tend to think, "Oh, poor me, having to do this,"

because it's not me who is having to deliver it, is it?

I'm not a hard person, at all,

but I just think, the more that I've been here,

the more you just learn to block it out, really.

Hello?

In room 15, Claire's blood pressure continues to rise.

Even though she's only 30 weeks pregnant, the doctors decide

it would be dangerous to leave the baby inside any longer.

Her boyfriend Dan is 130 miles away at home in Hull.

Tomorrow morning, I don't know what time,

because they don't tell you the time,

I'll be going down to the labour ward tonight.

Basically, can you get here tonight at some point?

Bye. Bye-bye.

I'm a bit nervous now.

I knew it was going to be a C-section anyway, but...

The last couple of days they've been saying that they're trying to wait

and, sort of, buy a bit more time,

because the longer the better for the baby.

I think now that it's actually going to happen,

I think it's, sort of, hit me a little bit.

I feel a little bit... Well, a LOT anxious now,

so no doubt my blood pressure will be up again!

A few miles away, 35-year-old Angelique

is getting ready to go into hospital.

I look at me bump and I think,

there's a little tiny bit of skin and then there's a little room

and then there's a little boy waiting to come out.

It's like my little secret in there. I know what he's up to.

I'm just head over heels. I just love it.

This will be Angelique's fifth child.

She and husband Glenn have decided it'll be their last.

When we had the tour around the hospital, the midwife said,

we can go home after a couple of hours and it was like, "Why?"

Why on earth would you want to go home

and put the washing on and make the tea?

Why would you want to do that?

Why wouldn't you want to stay in this lovely room

and just have you and your baby - nobody else, no distractions?

There'll just be us two

and once we leave the hospital, there'll never be just us two again.

I'll always have to share him and he'll always have to share me.

Hiya, I phoned earlier. My name's Angelique Kavanagh.

I was getting pains about every five minutes or so.

They were lasting about a minute.

They've got to about three minutes now

and they're starting to get really, sort of, sore, basically.

So I'm phoning up to see if I can have a room with a view.

Angelique heads for the delivery suite.

She's hoping there will be room for her upstairs on the maternity ward

once she gives birth.

Let's go.

Oh, don't make me laugh. It's not even funny.

Not a stretch mark in sight.

Oh, there is. I've got a few battle scars. I'm very proud of them.

-Is it all right if I examine you?

-Yeah, that's all right.

Is that a contraction now?

-It's feeling uncomfortable, yeah.

-OK.

As Angelique is having her fifth child,

midwives expect her to deliver quickly.

On the maternity ward,

Holly's induction drugs are having no effect.

But later in the evening, she starts to feel some pains.

I don't know, it just turned round and it hurt. I don't know.

I don't know what contractions are meant to feel like.

I just know it hurts.

Oh, shit.

Because of the excess fluid, the midwives need to make regular checks on the baby's heartbeat.

-Think that's a bit low. I'm going to have to pop you on the monitor, all right?

-Yeah.

We just want to know that he's nice and happy

while you're having your contractions, really.

What if they say he's distressed and they need to cut him out now?

They've obviously got to be extra careful, haven't they?

I am worried, though.

I'm just hoping she'll either be comfortable enough to have a sleep

or she'll get on with things.

She's never had a baby before or anything.

We have nothing to go on, we've got no idea how long it's going to take.

So hopefully, she'll do something for her sake, but you can't guarantee it.

For Claire, down the corridor, the risks of pregnancy are very real.

'It's just knowing it's not going to go smoothly for you.'

And you're always watching for this reading or that reading

or for your sugar going up, your blood pressure going up.

Scans, you know, making sure everything is OK.

It does play on your mind, especially on a night

when you're sort of laid on your own trying to get to sleep.

You do think about things.

It was 2009, I got admitted to hospital at 24 weeks

and I was going to be sectioned at 28 weeks,

but the Friday before - I think it was about four days

before the section was going to be taking place -

I'd gone for a scan and the baby had gone.

She'd passed away, so I missed out.

So it was just the placenta, really,

they said, that had caused the problem,

which, I believe, is the problem this time

and the problem is created by the high blood pressure.

You don't honestly think that you will ever be in that position

ever again, and you don't think you're going to want to, either.

But I think deep down, when you want something that much,

I think you find a way to, sort of...

..to get through it.

The next morning, Claire has been brought downstairs for her Caesarean.

Her baby will be delivered two and a half months early.

Are you nervous?

Nervous, scared, excited. Everything under the sun.

He don't know whether to smile or, like...urgh!

It's really stupid, because I've been diabetic for 24 years,

but I'm scared to death of other people coming near me with needles.

A midwife looks after Claire during the epidural injection.

She'll stay with her throughout the operation.

Claire is so anxious that Dan is brought into the theatre early

to help calm her down.

With the spinal anaesthetic in place,

Claire is numb from the waist down, but fully conscious.

-No, I hate Westlife.

-HE LAUGHS

BABY CRIES

Do you want to see him before I take him?

Yeah. Oh, my God!

All right.

Claire's baby weighs just three pounds.

He's so premature, he needs to be taken

straight to neonatal intensive care.

SHE CRIES

BABY CRIES

CLAIRE RETCHES

CLAIRE VOMITS

After the operation, Claire has a reaction to the anaesthetic.

She's a bit poorly, post-delivery.

She's vomiting and her blood pressure is up,

but we've given her drugs in her vein to help control that,

which is why I'm going to go back in five minutes and check it.

Keeping a close eye on it, cos we don't want it to get any higher,

cos that, in itself, is extremely dangerous.

Once the baby has been settled,

parents are allowed to visit.

Claire's too unwell to be moved,

so Dan has to visit their son on his own.

Hello, Jake. It's your dad.

Mummy's worried about you.

MACHINES BEEP IN BACKGROUND

I didn't know whether to be upset because he's like that, or happy...

-Hello, darling.

-Hello, we just need a blood sugar.

Thank you. No worries. Do you want to see Jake?

-Not feeling too good again, I'm afraid.

-No.

Don't get upset, will you? Look.

-Did you get it?

-No, not yet.

-All right?

Is that all right there?

-No, I'd move it if I were you.

-No.

Claire, we're going to give you another drug in your hand for your

blood pressure, OK, because it's still not coming down quick enough.

It was about 171/100.

Prior to that, 178/105.

MACHINE BEEPS

At 34 weeks, Michelle's twins are still causing concern.

Throughout her night on the ward,

she's continued to show signs of early labour.

If it was two weeks later on, I'd be really excited now.

I'd be sat on a birthing ball, going for it, but just...

-Having a curry!

-Yeah.

..just not quite ready, yet.

The hospital has to decide if she's at risk of delivering early.

Hello, Michelle.

To go into labour you need strong painful contractions that progress, OK?

So over the next several hours, things really are,

if you're just contracting occasionally

and it all settles down, then I'm going to be a bit more relaxed.

The question is what we do now, really,

because I think while you still had some tightenings overnight,

we're honour-bound to say, let's just give you another 24 hours

and if everything has settled down then we'll let you go home tomorrow.

Angelique has spent the night in labour.

As well as gas and air,

she's now had an injection of pethidine, a powerful painkiller.

Midwife Zoe is looking after her.

-Yeah, so you had your pethidine at 6:30?

-Yeah.

-Are you getting any effects from it?

-No.

With four births behind her, she knows that only morphine

will give her the pain relief she wants.

The best thing, you know, to speed things up, is to move about.

To be honest with you, I think I'd only do that

if I had morphine for the pain. I could do that, then.

That's fine, you just do whatever you like, I'm just giving you advice

in case, you know, you know, you know the score, you've had four babies.

Any chance that we are thinking of morphine?

-It's a bit early for something else yet.

-Yeah.

She's wanting more pain relief, which is fine,

but we were just concerned that we can't give her too much in the

short space of time, because it will affect the baby, as well.

Oh.

They're getting really strong and intense, aren't they?

Talk to me about morphine.

What are me chances?

I'll go and adjust your notes and see what we can give you.

Morphine, morphine, m-m-m-m-m-morphine!

There you go. Given at 25 past.

So that's diamorphine.

It was only a little bit, though, wasn't it?

Well, no, you got 10 milligrams.

-Are you sure?

-The full amount. Full quota.

We're not mean, you know.

-Yeah?

-Just testing!

It's quite strange, because this is last baby.

-Glenn's booked in to make sure.

-Yeah?

But I'm finding it difficult to see it as the beginning

and not the end of something.

-Yeah.

-Do you know what I mean?

It's like this is now the end of being pregnant.

I've got one that's good for today.

-Womb.

-How is that?

You spell womb like that?

Why are you checking? I know how to spell "womb"! I do have one!

Upstairs, on the maternity ward,

Holly's waiting to be examined by the medical team.

It's been a frustrating night.

I'm having really, really painful contractions

until about one in the morning and they just suddenly stopped.

There's not much change from yesterday.

Still can't get our finger in to break her waters.

Inductions are never quick.

Especially, it's her first baby

and she is only 38 weeks,

so her body's not ready yet to have this baby.

So we're really trying to force a natural process.

I don't think he's going to come today. I think it will be tomorrow.

Don't get down.

No, I'm not down, just pissed off.

No, I know, but, you know.

I'm destined to be pregnant forever!

LAUGHS

After their first night on the ward, Alyson and Ray are still

relying on the midwives to help them with their new arrival.

He's gone, isn't he? Ask them all to wake him up.

-Do you want me to press the buzzer and ask them to wake him up?

-Yeah.

When I'm doing a nappy demonstration or anything and I say,

"Did you practise with the teddy bear?"

They just look and go, "No" and I think,

you could have practised, but a little live baby is wriggling round

and kicking its legs and probably weeing and pooing at the same time

as you're trying to do the nappy, so nothing can prepare you to be a parent.

I think you just, sort of, have got to suck it up

and get on with it, really.

-What are you doing?

-I put it on, he takes it off!

-I'm sorry!

-BABY SQUEALS

We can give them help with parenting, how to bath the baby,

how to feed the baby, but it's not to do everything for them.

It's to take a step back and to step in where we're needed.

There's no special way to change a nappy.

There is no special way to feed your baby. It's your baby.

Are you happy now?

-You ready to have a baby, then?

-I think we're ready to go.

Come on, then, let's have it!

-Do you want me to push?

-Just do what your body needs to do.

Well done.

And again. Take a deep breath.

Just try and breathe on your gas now. We'll breathe him out.

Good girl.

OK, a bit more on the push.

Good girl. It's just coming. Breathe.

All right?

Push down, push down.

-Look at your baby.

-Wow!

Look! He's amazing, isn't he?

-Oh!

-He's beautiful.

-Oh, God!

You look like everybody else!

Oh, a beautiful boy!

-Are you cutting the cord?

-Yeah, if you don't mind, yeah.

-Whereabouts do you want me to cut it?

-Just in the middle, there.

It's really tough, OK?

It could take a couple...

Oh!

-Oh!

-Very blue, isn't he?

-Can I just dry him up a bit?

-Yeah.

-Oh, are you OK?

-Yeah, fine.

He's a bit blue, but I think...

His heart rate's slow. Heart rate's slow.

-He's still a little bit...

-What's wrong with him?

-Just going to take him to the resus.

-Yeah.

He's just a bit blue and sleepy.

He's fine, but we'll take him out and see if he needs a whiff of oxygen.

He'll be fine, he probably just needs a good rub,

a good cry, to pink up and clear his airways,

so they'll do that outside.

-Will they bring him straight back?

-Of course they will, don't worry.

-After treatment, baby Isaac is now responding well.

-Isaac.

Isaac, let's go and find your mummy.

Oh!

Oops!

He's fine, darling. He's just... full of morphine, like his mother.

He's still a bit sleepy.

He's lovely and pink now, isn't he, darling?

Aren't you?

FATHER LAUGHS

ANGELIQUE: Oh, ooh, ooh!

ANGELIQUE MUMBLES TO BABY

Hello, dude.

He looks happy.

The midwives have found a room for Angelique on the maternity ward.

She wants some extra time alone with her new baby before she goes home.

Most hospitals don't have the space, but here they try and offer a bed

to any mum who wants to stay a bit longer.

We'll always make room,

because why should we treat anyone different than anyone else?

It doesn't matter if it's your first baby or your tenth baby,

everyone deserves the same treatment

and some people just need to come in and have a rest.

-So you've got your own loo, you've got en suite there.

-Mm-hm.

The security tag. So if anyone

was to take him through the unit,

it'd all lock down and the alarms would go off, so he can't be stolen.

-You're a star, thank you.

-Pleasure.

-Aw. Really appreciate it. So does Isaac.

-My pleasure.

Yeah, sound, yeah.

Especially the en suite bit and the view... A room with a view, eh?

It's now 36 hours since Alyson gave birth

and she still isn't feeling any better.

Blood tests may show why.

'She's looked paler and paler throughout the day

'and her iron count's come back at 7.2.'

The normal range is 11.2-14.8.

So she's running on about half her amount

that she should be running on.

-Hi, you know the blood I took from you this morning?

-Yeah.

OK, it probably is the reason why you are feeling so rubbish,

cos it's come back at 7.2.

-Is that me...? Iron count?

-That's your iron count, yeah.

With an iron count of 7.2, you'll probably say yes to a few of these.

-You'll feel pale, you'll feel like your heart's beating in your chest.

-Yeah.

-You'll feel breathless, you'll feel tired, you'll feel dizzy when you stand up.

-Yeah.

You'll feel lethargic, you'll feel like you've got no energy.

When it reaches a certain point,

the doctors will recommend that you have a transfusion.

There's risks involved with it,

there's also a lot of benefits involved in it, as well.

Do you think you want to have one or not?

I don't want one, but then I'm thinking,

if it's going to make me feel better...

I just don't like the thought of someone else's blood being in me.

The only thing that makes me feel

is that I can just feel better, like that, in a few hours.

I don't feel well.

You'd feel very well after it, you'd feel like a million dollars.

Your cheeks would be rosy, you'd have yourself back.

-Can I give you one bit of advice?

-Yeah.

You know when you take your little one home,

you get to do it once for the first time.

You need to enjoy this baby.

You will enjoy them,

but with an iron count of 7.2, you'll feel awful when you get home!

If you did decide to have a transfusion,

it'd be done by tonight.

All right, OK.

But that's not to say that I'm telling you to have one, you need to think about it.

-All right, I will think about it.

-All right, OK.

I actually think she needs it.

She does need it, but she doesn't have to have it

if she doesn't want it.

-It would be best to get that to be fair.

-I don't know.

I'm just... Let me think. I'm a bit tired at the second, so...

-Just let me think for a bit.

-OK.

And see what...see what I think.

I don't know.

Let's have a look at your finger.

-In room seven, Angelique is getting to know her new baby.

-Little hair.

He's all mine.

And nobody else wants to have a squeeze or a hug, or...

I can count his little fingers.

Yeah...

Baby...

'It's just a purely selfish...'

Wanting to have time by myself

with Isaac, locked away.

That's really strange, cos you think when you've got four little monkeys at home...

..you think you've got no room.

It's that, kind of, how d'you split yourself into different pieces?

How d'you...? Where d'you find more love from for another baby?

And it's crazy, because they put you through absolute bloody agony.

Gruelling labour, then they scream at you and it's just...

You can't help it, you just fall head over heels

and I can honestly say, in the day that he's been here,

he hasn't even been here a day yet...

I love him just as much as all the others.

-All right?

-I'll get that sandwich sorted out for you.

-Thank you very much.

-OK.

-Thank you.

It's 24 hours since Claire's Caesarean,

but she still hasn't touched her baby.

She's now well enough to visit him for the first time.

CLAIRE GASPS

If I lower it down, is it just the foot pedal, is that all right? Yeah.

Oh, look. Aw, look at him. Oh, big stretch, that's it.

Big stretch, Jake.

Put your hands in and you can put one round the back of his head

but watch these tubes and push.

-Again, just cup your hand round his head...

-Hello, darling!

You've not to stroke him though, cos he's very sensitive,

so just put your hands on him.

-Like that?

-That's it, yeah.

-Hello!

-Hey, Jake, Mum's come to see you.

-Yeah!

-Oh, look!

Hello, sweetheart. I'm sorry it's been so long.

The main problem we had yesterday that he's needed quite a lot of treatment for -

ironically, compared to you - he's had a low blood pressure,

but we're, overall, pleased, really, taking it all into consideration.

That's great.

-All right?

-Yeah.

Say bye to him, then. He can hear you.

Oh, I'm sorry, yeah. Bye, sweetheart. We'll be back soon!

All right, love you!

SHE BLOWS KISSES TO BABY

MACHINES BEEP

He's gorgeous. Absolutely perfect.

(Well done.)

Alyson has decided to have the blood transfusion.

Over the next few hours,

she will receive three pints of donor blood

to boost her iron levels.

So if your iron count's 7.2,

three units should probably bring it up to ten point something.

All right, fingers crossed.

She'll be monitored closely throughout

to check for a bad reaction.

It's a blood product going into your body, so your body can reject it.

At any point during the transfusion, you can start to feel unwell.

I feel fine, like, not in pain

but then I'm wondering why I'm not in pain.

I feel like I shouldn't be here. I feel like I'm...

I don't feel like I'm being induced...at all.

After three days, and three doses of induction drugs,

Holly has failed to make any progress.

She's been here so long,

it's nothing anything anybody's done, but you can sort of, you know,

make it better by saying things to her,

"Well, look, I know you've been here a while,

"but you're increasing your chances of having a normal delivery

"cos you're not just bailing out and having a Caesarean, then."

-It goes hard, like now.

-Yeah, there's something happening now.

-Is there any pain or...?

-No.

Sometimes this is how it starts, with no pain,

but it's just starting, yeah.

'Just keep giving it positive and then every time you go in

'if you've noticed that she's had'

some contractions then you can say, "Oh, great, you've had this"

and encourage it that way, rather than saying,

"You're still here from Saturday?"

You're doing everything that you should do,

there's nothing more you can do...

..apart from some dynamite up there!

We can't start an induction, have that induction not work

and then send the woman home.

The baby needs to be born.

She's been induced because the baby's at risk,

because of her medical condition,

so we've got to get on with it.

We started, so we'll finish.

The doctors have come to a decision that Holly was hoping to avoid.

How are you? We have really tried getting you into labour...

-Yeah, OK.

-..but nothing is changing.

I think we'll probably go ahead with a Caesarean section.

Oh, well, decision now. Yeah? You'll see your baby boy in a minute. Yeah?

'I was just a bit gutted, because I wanted to feel natural birth,'

but I've tried my best, but my cervix won't dilate, so...

She doesn't want to have a C-section.

I think it's just the fear of going under the knife, innit?

But...what will be, will be, eh?

I hate surgery and I think because it's such a big surgery

and I've got to...

I know you can't feel the pain, but you can still feel it,

it's making me feel sick thinking about it.

At least I know he's definitely on his way now.

OK?

Hat.

That's it.

LAUGHTER

-Love you.

-Give your mum a kiss.

-All right, I'll see you in a bit.

-You givin' him a kiss?

-I'll see you in a minute anyway.

-Do it anyway, just in case.

-You can get ready for this final bit now.

-Does it hurt?

No, no, it just feels a little bit uncomfortable, but we just need to position you.

Let me know if it hurts, all right?

-Just pressing, can you just feel pressing?

-Yeah.

-Do you feel warm yet?

-Yeah, all down my legs.

-Yeah?

-I can't feel my bum!

-I know. Already! I told you it's quick.

You all right?

-(Oh, big, big!)

-Yeah, that's fine. He's good.

Ooh, hello!

There you go!

-He wants a cuddle!

-Is he all right?

-He'll be fine.

Congratulations, he's lovely!

There you go, d'you want to hold him?

Let me have a look at my baby. Hello, gorgeous.

Just keep the hat on the head.

I can't really believe it.

BABY WAILS

Holly and her new baby are taken back up to the maternity ward,

where they'll spend the next few days.

He's so cute.

We've just been into town.

Took these into town, just went down to...

Just now?

Angelique's four other children have come to meet their new brother.

-Can you see his toes, Isabel? Touch his toes.

-Hello!

-Hey, Max.

-Why's that on his foot?

-He had to have his blood taken.

-Oh.

BABY WAILS

-Oh!

-ANGELIQUE LAUGHS

I realised that, cos it was her last baby,

and by the things she was telling me and her body language,

I think she wanted to hold on to that baby and that pregnancy

for just that bit longer.

Even when she came to pushing him out, I think she was just,

you know, taking her time, really.

Stop it, there he is!

He could've been born a bit quicker, perhaps,

but she might say I've got that wrong! I've got a hunch, though.

Oh, he's had a poo on me!

-Oh, no! Why's he not got a nappy on?!

-He has.

Eww!

Well, I'm not doing that one this time.

After her blood transfusion, Alyson is feeling better.

-She is now ready to go home.

-Yes, right.

That's for you to fill in.

You can either fill it in now or when you go home, all right?

It's just to let us know about your experiences,

what you thought was good and what you didn't think was so good, OK?

It's just so that we can make our service better.

Obviously, if there was anything that you were really happy with,

then it'd be nice to hear from you about that.

-All right, that's great.

-OK, so if you don't mind.

If he's unwell in any way, shape or form, then get him seen.

You know, if you think he's got a temperature, all right?

I'll be like constantly on the phone, like, "Oh, he blinked!

-"Is he all right?"

-Yeah.

Not everyone is going home holding a baby.

After three nights on the ward,

things have settled down for Michelle and Donna.

-Did you sleep all right or...?

-I slept through.

-Good, very good.

-No bleeding, no loss, no tightenings?

-No.

It sounds like you'll be able to go home, doesn't it? That's a big smile.

I'm going home! I'm going home for another three weeks...at least

and then I'll have him.

That's my plan.

Got the car keys?

All right. Lovely.

-Thanks.

-Bye.

Three days after he was born,

Claire's baby still needs intensive care,

but today he's stable enough to be held for the first time.

-OK, Mum, are you ready?

-Yeah, oh, yeah. I'm more than ready!

CLAIRE SQUEALS

Oh!

-Oh!

-Is he OK on that side?

-Yeah. Hello, sweetheart.

-BABY WAILS

-Oh, it's all right.

Fine.

Shhh! There we go.

Oh, look, look, look. Shhh...

Eh, we'll make it all right.

Shhh... There we go.

There you are, it's all right, don't worry.

Aw, that's better, that's better.

See? You're all right. We're fine.

Mummy's here. Mummy's here.

He's just so small!

Aren't you so small?

You don't have to cover your face!

-Thanks.

-Thank you.

I don't want to go, I want to stay!

It's wind.

I think he's thrown it up.

We need to get him more.

I have days, I think everyone has days where I just think,

"I wish we were shut.

"I wish we could shut and say, 'No more. No more room at the inn.' "

"'The door's closed'," but we're never shut.

24 hours a day, we're always here.

We'll always make room.

It's just, literally, sometimes you can send someone home

and then make the bed, do the floor

and then someone else is in the bed and the floor's just barely dry.

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