Bringing Home Baby The Midwives

This programme contains some strong language

Hi, it's the midwife!

That's it, that's it. You're doing it! You're doing it!

Little pushes, Em. Little pushes.

Ohh, 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!"

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...

-I just don't feel like 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, 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

-What's the weather like at the moment?

-It's bloody freezing.

I can't cope. I'm not very good with the cold at all.

How many layers have you got on?

I've got two pairs of tights on, two pairs of socks,

two T-shirts and my uniform on!

And I'm still cold. My hands are freezing.

Di Davies is a community midwife in inner-city Manchester.

-Morning!

-Hello, hi.

-Are you OK?

Yeah. Just don't tape me or anything. He managed to sleep...

She's on a routine visit to Deman and Ali from Kurdistan.

When she saw them yesterday with their day-old baby,

they seemed confident about what they were doing.

When I said, "Has baby got a basket?"

you said, "We've got everything."

I said, "That's very good, and baby needs to sleep in a basket."

Do you remember what I said about the blankets?

-Ah, do not wrap it.

-Ah! see?

I told, nobody listened to me.

Will you listen to me?

This... Yesterday we talked about the blankets.

HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

-OK.

-Yeah? So baby, when baby's sleeping,

needs to be at the bottom.

So here, like this.

Over the top, like this.

Di visits new parents to make sure

they know how to look after their babies

in the crucial first few days at home.

-And inside, no hat.

-OK.

-No hat.

So how is feeding going? Feeding OK?

-Yeah.

-No problem?

And how many bottles is baby having?

So that's what baby's had all through the night,

that one bottle?

Yes, she did one from that one also.

When you make bottle, that bottle can only be used for one hour.

One hour.

When one hour finished, throw away.

-OK.

-You understand?

-Yes.

If the bottle is made and left there all the time overnight,

and you keep just feeding the baby the same bottle,

while the bottle is staying there,

there's lots of germs and bacteria in the bottle.

They breed in the milk, and then you give that to your baby.

Can you put that bottle in a pan with boiling water

for ten minutes? Now.

-For ten minutes?

-Yeah.

-We'd know nothing.

-Bubbling water.

-Have you had much sleep?

-No.

I get no sleep, cos the baby crying all the time.

-All right, I'll see you tomorrow, darling.

-See you tomorrow.

All right. No problem.

Di will check up on Deman and Ali twice in the next ten days.

She'll only discharge them if she's sure their baby will be OK.

It was difficult, but it was all right.

They're a really nice family and obviously haven't a clue.

They'd use the same bottle all night

and just kept giving the baby a bit more, a bit more and a bit more.

That baby is brand-new

and got a sterile gut

and it's been having milk that's been sat breeding germs overnight,

and if we hadn't picked that up at that point,

then that baby could have ended up in A&E.

Di is one of 55 community midwives at Manchester's St Mary's Hospital.

Between them, they look after almost 5,000 new babies every year.

The community midwives have to work out

which mums are coping with a baby and which mums are struggling.

The vast majority of women that we look after are absolutely fine

but very occasionally, you know,

something will come up that will give us cause for concern.

And you never know when that's going to happen,

you never know who that woman is.

Next on the list this morning

is a woman who came home from hospital yesterday

after giving birth.

I am a really nosy person

and I love seeing people in their own environments, how they live,

what their houses are like.

I don't understand what that means. It's all in legal speak.

I think it's a bailiff's notice.

It's an empty house, that.

SHE LAUGHS

Welcome to my life!

I'll ring the hospital and see if they've another address for this lady.

She's around, because she's had a baby

and she only came home last night, so she must be somewhere.

I'm getting in the car, I'm not standing here.

"NUMBER NOT IN USE" TONE

Number not in use.

Right, this is a worry.

This lady is...

Had her baby yesterday,

so it's first day after having a new baby, and we don't know where she is.

1-2-8-7. She's obviously done a flit from this house.

"NUMBER NOT IN USE" TONE

One in ten of the woman Di looks after

suffers from postnatal depression.

Every year in Britain, between five and ten babies are abandoned,

so it's vital that Di tracks down the baby and its mother.

So what's the worst-case scenario for that baby?

That it's not fed, and we don't find it today.

DISTANT SIRENS

You must be short of footage

if you're filming me putting things in the boot.

Joyce Pemberton is one of the team's most experienced midwives.

I've been a midwife for 30 years now.

Sometimes it seems an awful long time

and sometimes it just seems like yesterday.

Is it the same? Are you the same?

I'm older. I have to dye my hair more often.

Joyce is on her way to visit a 21-year-old

who's single and due to give birth in just two weeks' time.

She's one of the mums the team is most worried about.

Fizah is a young lady who...

It's her first baby.

She hasn't got a consistent partner.

I'm not sure if the back door's open

as last time I came, the doors weren't working.

Oh! There we are. So secure.

She's had a few pickups along the way.

The young woman she's going to see

spent most of her teenage years in care.

'Doors closing.'

At least it's a clean lift and it doesn't smell of pee.

'Lift going up.'

How would you feel, Joyce,

if Fizah was your daughter and she was pregnant?

Oh, I'd be very anxious.

'Second floor.'

Joyce is concerned about how Fizah might cope with a newborn,

so she referred her to Manchester's Vulnerable Baby Service.

One minute!

OK! It's Joyce!

'She was very upset about the fact that I'd done this.

'She was very worried about being referred to social services

'and I was very clear that this was not social services.'

Really, we're just making sure that you know

all the things that you need to know before you go into labour.

Is it about... Like, so how many weeks am I now exactly?

Is it around about 38 weeks?

Because I'm sure the last time I checked, it was, like, 37 weeks!

I should have worked this out before I came.

Second or the third, I just know it's sooner than I thought.

Right, so have you got the nursery sorted?

Pretty much. I've got everything there, it just needs to be organised.

Right!

-I've got the stuff there, it just needs to be...

-Wow!

That's very smart. Oh, I love it.

There's a mini wardrobe for him on the floor that my niece put together.

We got the pram three weeks ago

but I just need to put it together, that's all.

It needs wheels.

-Have you got milk?

-We're going to get it!

No, no, I'm just... I'm not hassling you.

So next time I'm here will be when you've had the baby.

OK.

SIREN BLARES

Some people are easier than others

and sometimes it takes several meetings for them to...accept us.

And sometimes they don't.

And that can be hard.

Joyce didn't really know about my whole situation,

being in care and stuff.

But then, as soon as she found out that I was in care,

that's when she started asking questions,

like, did I have enough support and was my family around and stuff

and she ended up referring me to a place called Vulnerable Babies

so yeah, that was a bit of a shock.

How has it made you feel?

Now, when I think about it now?

Angry,

hurt...

..and just...

..just worried, yeah. Just scared.

Once Fizah's baby is born,

the midwives and the Vulnerable Baby Service

will keep a close eye on how she copes.

Di is still looking for the woman

who disappeared with her newborn baby the day after leaving hospital.

PHONE LINE RINGS

Hello, is that Nasiba?

-'No.'

-Is Nasiba there?

'No, you've got the wrong number.'

Is there a lady there who's had a baby recently?

-'No, not at all.'

-I'm so sorry!

All right, don't worry. Thank you.

-'Hi, Di.'

-Hiya. That number,

a guy answered who thinks I'm mad.

Nobody's had a baby and it's not her.

Can you ring the ward and check the discharge address on the paperwork?

'Yeah, course I will. I give you a call back.'

Di's been given a new address, just a few streets away.

SHE KNOCKS

Hello?

I'm going to get her phone number off my piece of paper.

Oh! Midwife!

Where is baby?

BABY WHIMPERS

How old's your baby?

It gets worse.

Erm...

That lady is not the lady I'm looking for

and it's just hilarious, because they let anybody in the house.

She has got a child who's 48 days old,

who she had in Italy, but she's not the lady I'm looking for

and so she just let me in.

So I don't know what I'm going to do now.

I'll go on to my next one, cos I'm not waiting.

Cos that'll just hold me up now.

Di has no choice but to push on to the next address.

With Britain in the middle of a baby boom,

she has to make up to 13 visits a day.

Women are coming home a lot sooner from hospital.

There's a rising birth rate.

'There's been closures of other local hospitals,'

which has had an impact on us.

The way we're working at the minute, we're so busy, we're so pushed.

You never get a lunch break,

you don't often accept drinks in somebody's home

because you don't know when your next toilet stop will come.

What happens if you don't get through all your visits in a day?

It doesn't happen. It's not an option.

You have to get through your visits in a day.

PHONE LINE RINGS

-Thank you, bye.

-'OK, bye.'

-Do you want an update on our missing woman?

Yeah, what's happened now?

I don't know how they've done it, but they managed to find her.

She's actually in Withington.

I'm really pleased they found her

and I've even more pleased it's not in my area and I don't have to go!

So it's one less visit I'm doing

but really, I've done the visit and more in the time I spent chasing her.

SHE SIGHS

Getting sick of doing my coat up and undoing it.

Di's final stop of the day

is to see a couple who brought home their third child ten days ago.

-Hiya. Midwife. You OK?

-Yeah, yeah.

Di wants to discharge them from the care of her team.

She hopes this will be her final visit.

Do you know, how she's sleeping now, she looks very comfortable,

and it looks very nice, but it's not quite right.

BABY CRIES

I sound like I'm patronising you

but I'm only giving you the best advice, OK?

So she needs to be...

The blankets are loosely placed over the top, not tied up like a parcel

and that's so if she gets too hot, she can kick those blankets off.

Yeah?

BABY SCREAMS

-And no pillows, no sleeping on pillows.

-OK.

-OK?

Come on, darling.

The safe sleeping advice is to prevent cot death.

I don't know, in this country we call it cot death, but really,

it's sudden infant death, and most babies who die

because they're not sleeping in a cot.

They die on a sofa or they die in a bed.

Most of them are caused by bed sharing.

Sofas, what tends to happen is babies get wedged down the side.

It's horrible, really, to think of.

So any problems, if you get any concerns about you or the baby now,

-ring the GP.

-OK.

-All right.

Do you ever leave someone's house

worrying whether they're going to be all right and all?

Yeah.

It's not very nice.

Almost 75% of cot deaths happen in disadvantaged families.

Ten years ago,

Manchester had some of the highest levels of cot death in Britain.

The Vulnerable Baby Service was set up to help mothers

whose babies are thought to be at risk

before there's a need for social services to become involved.

Some women will have their babies taken off them.

Yeah.

So there is a line?

There is.

And yeah, I've worked with quite a difficult case recently,

couple of years ago, where a family had four children removed.

And her mother resented me.

And...it was very difficult,

but I'm there not just for the mum, I'm there for the baby,

all of them children.

The midwives are concerned about 21-year-old Fizah

because she has a history of family depression

and because she's on her own.

I don't know why, but I just think that's really cute,

the little feet thing, the little booties.

I just find that cute,

because it says, like, "50% daddy", so...yeah!

Yeah, I never thought I'd get pregnant by a Polish man.

I could never see myself, like, in this situation.

Do you know if he'll be around? How much do you think he'll be around?

I don't know. He's got photos of the scans.

He's got spare scan photos. He wanted them.

He's bought some baby stuff, but...

I don't know if he's going to be around all the time, like, a lot

and to be honest, I don't think he would.

Fizah is unhappy that Joyce has referred her

to the Vulnerable Baby Service because of her family background.

It runs through three generations.

My grandma, she's schizophrenic,

and then from there my mum lost me and my other sisters

because she was depressed.

We were taken into care and stuff

because they said that she couldn't cope.

My other sister, that's another thing,

my other sister she's got issues as well,

and she's lost her kids as well.

And then Joyce, I don't know,

maybe she just presumes that I'm going to end up like my family,

maybe, but, like I said, I do think it's really fair, to be honest.

I'm...

I've not been given the opportunity to actually be a mother yet.

So...yeah.

When Fizah found out she was pregnant,

she didn't know how much she could rely on her mum for support.

I decided to, like, keep the baby and stuff.

So I first told my sisters, and then I eventually told my parents,

and yeah, they weren't too pleased, were they?

No, they really weren't too pleased.

You got to admit, you did find it difficult, though.

Yeah, I did find it difficult, but I have learnt to accept it.

I mean, there was a time when I wouldn't,

when I wasn't able to say when me and Fizah kept having arguments.

I said to her, you know,

I don't understand how you can go through this pregnancy.

Because it's going to, you know, bring shame on us.

Well, I've looked at it from all sorts of views, I mean,

Allah says, God says, but his door is always open for forgiveness.

Tell me, what was it like when you were pregnant with Fizah?

Oh, oh, gosh.

Right, it was when, you know the Berlin Wall came down,

1989, so we went there.

I was pregnant with Fizah at that time, they invited me to...

-Oh, you can tell them about that?

-The club, yeah.

-Oh, God.

-Nightclub.

But you weren't drinking anything, were you?

No, I didn't drink, I had orange juice, they knew that I was pregnant

so obviously, I wouldn't drink.

Every time the music came on, I could feel her bouncing along.

Seriously? Oh, my God.

I think that's where you get your clubbing instincts from.

Yeah, maybe.

That was one of my easiest births, really.

And easiest, you know, pregnancy.

-So I wasn't painful, or anything?

-No, no, no.

Who was your midwife?

-What, when I had my first baby?

-Ah!

Sister Pemberton.

-Joyce?

-Joyce, yes.

-What was she like?

-Very strict, very, very strict.

She was like, you know, like what you call those...

Like a nun.

There was no Joyce, you had to call her Sister Pemberton,

there was no, you know...

-Friendly banter.

-Um, friendly banter or anything like that.

But she's a lovely lady, it's just that time she was very, very strict.

I had postnatal depression, and I was sitting in the house,

and I was crying, the curtains were closed,

I wouldn't get up to eat or drink or anything.

Well, I say I would rather have had support,

I would have liked to have had a mum that I could turn to.

When somebody takes your child from you

first of all, it's really devastating.

We felt that what social services done to us,

they did try to make us come apart.

That eats away at you, you feel guilty, what did I do wrong?

What did I do wrong?

Was it something I did that caused this to happen?

You try to do your best, and you've done everything,

and yet somebody turns around and tells you you're not a good mother.

Fizah is due in a few days' time.

She's asked her mum to be her birth partner.

Hello, Catherine, it's Farhana,

do you know that this homebirth is due in now?

Five miles away, midwife Farhana Farouq has been called

to help a woman give birth in her own front room.

Let's go.

Less than 2% of women in Manchester

choose to give birth at home.

When they do,

it falls to the community midwives to look after them.

Homebirths can be just as safe, and they cost the NHS less.

But it's a mother's choice to request one.

There aren't as many as we'd like there to be,

so, when they do come about, they are quite special.

These ladies won't have any social problems,

they tend to be as normal as you can get,

and, you know, we don't worry about them in any kind of way.

Farhana has been a midwife for just five years.

You're not in a hospital environment any more,

you're not in a place where you can pull the emergency buzzer,

and you get all your support in.

I've not met this lady

but we just treat every patient like with met them before,

and their needs come first.

My name's Farhana, I'm one of the midwives,

-do you want us to take our shoes off?

-No, go on in.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah.

Uh, uh, uh!

Ah!

Sorry, Nina, hello.

I didn't want to catch you mid-contraction.

By the time Farhana arrives to take over from another midwife,

34-year-old Nina has been in labour for 12 hours.

Keep breathing.

So far, the contractions are still how they're supposed to be doing,

we've not examined her because it's every four hours.

It's just that support, really, now, more than anything.

First-time mums have a 40% chance of being transferred into hospital.

Nina's labour needs to progress more quickly

if she's going to deliver her baby at home.

-Do you want to try up and down?

-I'll try.

OK. Even if it's just one little step at a time.

Ah, ah, ah!

Ah, ah!

It seems a strange way to spend a Tuesday night.

An evening, I know, I could have been watching EastEnders,

Holby City, I know.

Nina, shall we try and get you to the loo again?

-For a wee?

-Yeah, if we can.

Let's just do everything we can to try and help this labour.

So far, Nina has had no pain relief at all.

MOANING

Just breathe it away, Nina.

Bring your bottom on little bit more in the middle,

it's kind of on one side.

That's it. Feet together.

OK, try and relax. A bit cold, it's the jelly.

It needs to come a little bit further down, OK,

but baby has come down a lot since examined,

and I can only just about get in this much of my finger.

That's how far away your baby's head is.

I'm just going to try and see what position the baby is in

but with your membrane still there.

Right, missus, let's get it back up.

The more pressure on this baby's head, the waters will go.

It's been four hours since Farhana arrived,

and Nina is fully dilated and ready to start pushing.

It's the end of Farhana's shift.

MOANING

She can't stay to deliver the baby.

Midwife Mary takes over.

MOANING

Spotlight down below.

Right.

-What's that for?

-Just for suction.

Nina, just come to say goodbye.

Going to off to bed cos we're on first thing in the morning.

Yeah, just keep nice and stood up and you'll be fine.

-Thanks a lot.

-All right. All the best.

Thanks guys.

THEY EXCHANGE GOODBYES

LABOURED BREATHING

Push down really hard together.

Right.

Hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it.

Hold it. Come on, Nina.

Hold, hold, hold.

Go on, one long push. It's nearly there.

Just the colour of the water

-has just gone a bit with meconium.

-Oh, no.

-Yeah.

Meconium - baby pooh - can be a sign the baby is in distress.

-You really couldn't have done any more.

-What will we do now?

If we were seeing the head at this point

and delivering the baby, we would just carry on.

But, however, because we're not seeing the baby's head

we're actually seeing some of the meconium,

we do really need to go in.

NINA MOANS

Try not to push Nina, just breathe.

Nina had actually been fully dilated a long period of time

but, sadly, the progress of the baby's head just was hampered.

As a clinician you've got to be always thinking,

is this mother and baby still safe?

MIDWIFE: Gorgeous. Oh!

Just in between us. That's it.

After 30 hours, and three different midwives,

a doctor delivers Nina's baby boy.

BABY CRIES

PHONE RINGS

After a late shift at the home birth, Farhana still has to be in

at 8.30 the next morning to tackle an ever-growing list

of expectant mothers.

We don't just discuss your medical things with you.

There's actually a bit in here, it specifically asks you

about your mental health.

You could be feeling low in mood which we know is

normal in pregnancy so your emotional health is now

asked about during booking pregnancy and also family life,

you know, if you've got any support etc, things like that.

What we don't want is for these ladies to be more isolated

or vulnerable in pregnancy.

Monique is eight months pregnant.

She's one of the mums-to-be the team is keeping an eye on

throughout her pregnancy.

She's very nice, very lovely, but emotionally,

needs lots of support. Unfortunately her mum died last year.

She's not with the baby's dad.

She has some friends and some family

but it's not like having your mum when you're pregnant.

Monique has only just been rehoused,

having spent most of her pregnancy sleeping on friends' sofas.

It's an OK area.

Only if you were brought up around here, though, I think.

That was on my first birthday.

My mum was pregnant and I was born 15 weeks premature.

I weighed one pound one ounce.

And on my first birthday I was in the newspaper.

I was basically nearly a miscarriage.

My mum passed away in February this year.

January, February, March... Three months after she passed away,

that's when I conceived.

I think she planned it.

Definitely. To keep me focused.

Me and the baby's dad aren't together

which I think, at the moment, is a good idea.

Just concentrate on the baby.

I have a few worries.

But all you can do is try your best.

I think.

Like many cities,

Manchester has a higher-than-average number of single mothers.

Almost a third of mums are on their own.

Three days before her due date, Monique goes into labour

and asks for the strongest pain relief she can have.

It feels mad. It's like you go through loads of things

that you can't remember.

You know, when you're in the pain, you can't remember it.

Now I feel all right. Probably because of the epidural.

'She was quite bad to begin with

'because the pain relief was not working

'but now she's had epidural and she's doing really well.'

Monique's asked her stepmum, Christine, to be her birth partner.

Monique and my daughter were best friends at school.

I was single and her dad was and they brought us together.

Just because I didn't give birth to her doesn't mean

that I'm not a mother to her.

Monique's mum isn't here now

and I'm sure she'd want somebody here in her place.

Though he's not been around for much of the pregnancy,

ex-boyfriend Stephen has turned up at the hospital.

I've asked for the doctors to review.

Baby's just dropping its heart rate a little bit.

After eight hours of labour,

suddenly, Monique's baby is in distress.

Have you got any crowns or bridges in your mouth?

Don't worry about that now. There's no time. Got to get the baby out.

Yes, we have done.

The baby is the priority.

Leave everything as it is and just follow Sue.

Sit back, sweetheart. If you just follow me, I'll show you

where to get changed. Come on through.

Monique needs an emergency Caesarean section.

Stephen is allowed to go into theatre.

Get changed in here and lock your stuff up in the locker.

First one didn't answer.

I'm not completely numb. I can't feel nothing.

Wow! Come on, baby.

BABY CRIES

Hello. Give it a...

Show them it's crying.

Can you just hold it for me? Give us a clamp.

Congratulations.

-MONIQUE:

-Oh, God.

There's your baby. I'm going to take him to the baby doctor.

He's absolutely fine, but I'm going to take into the baby doctor.

It's routine, it's normal. But he's a fine, healthy boy. All right?

I'll bring him straight back.

He's definitely got your colouring!

No way! Oh, my God!

Get your scissors.

It's not quite the same as coming out of the womb but if you just

cut near there. You have cut the cord. Fantastic! Well done.

-Shall we weigh him?

-Please.

-Yeah?

-He's lovely isn't he?

-Gorgeous.

What do you think? You've gone really quiet. You stuck for words?

-Yeah.

-You've not stopped yacking all day.

Three point three.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-I'm trying not to cry. He's stunning, isn't he?

-Amazing.

I've checked with the doctor...

He's absolutely tiny.

Hello.

HE CRIES

You took your time, didn't you? Yeah, you did.

-Got your nose.

-He's got my nose.

-Ohh!

Look at him.

I don't know. I wouldn't be able to not be here.

I don't understand how some people you know are just at home waiting.

Just don't understand it.

It's partly me, isn't it? So...

I'm not the best partner.

I think that's no reflection on what I'll be like as a father.

So, erm...

You know, I'll be a lot better father than a partner.

Try and separate them.

I think the initial gorgeous baby and the cuddling stage is amazing

and then you often do wonder how supportive

will they be once it gets really difficult and the sleepless nights

and the stress kicks in and raising a baby is really difficult.

Five days past her due date, Fizah has also gone into labour.

I think you've popped.

-Sorry.

-It's OK.

-Get off me. Shit, shit, shit.

-What has happened?

-This is why I wanted to stay there.

-OK.

-Hello. OK?

-Don't touch me, please.

-OK.

I think she's fully dilated, just by looking at her.

Because I just think she is.

Thinking isn't the same as examining so I just need to quickly check.

I'll check but I am sure.

-Can I examine you?

-Not yet, not yet.

-Not yet, not yet.

-Are you having pain are you?

-Are you having a pain, darling?

Don't worry.

I think your baby... Sorry, I'm getting on your nerves.

-I think your baby's going to come.

-It's coming now.

-It's coming now.

-I think you're very brave, come on.

Please don't touch me.

I'm not touching.

-Voluntary?

-Involuntary, yeah.

Big, deep breaths on that and keep going all the way.

-Hold it to your mouth.

-I can't.

-Just hold it to your mouth.

-I'm trying.

-If you want to push, push.

Hold on like this to the bed. Hold on tight, then push really hard.

Like you want to do a pooh. Quick push.

That's it, big long push into your bottom.

-Keep that going.

-Good girl.

Well done. Keep going.

BABY CRIES

After 13 hours in labour and a tricky delivery,

Fizah gives birth to a baby boy.

He's a big bit close to the thingy, isn't he?

-You want me to move the stuff out of the way?

-Be careful.

Would you not like to be recorded, Mike?

Here's your babby!

Fizah's ex-boyfriend, Mike, has turned up to drive her home.

I've already got a name for him - Zade - it means to progress.

-Do you think it's big?

-It's quite big, actually.

But he'll be all right. Won't you, lad?

-It is quite hot. Should be all right.

-It is quite warm.

-Yeah.

-All right?

-Going to struggle a bit. Oh, God. Thank you.

Goes from the top there, over round is what it's doing there.

I'm sure we could put it round there like that.

-There we go.

-Is he all right?

What do you mean it's on the wrong side?

-You call that careful driving?

-What?

-Who taught you how to drive?

-That's what I said.

-You're driving a bit like a psycho.

-And there's a baby in the car.

Right.

It's so hot in here.

-All right, I'm going, yeah?

-You going to get going? OK.

You going to kiss him goodbye?

-Give him a kiss goodbye. He's your son.

-Why?

Because he's your son. He's part...oh...

-Daddy's saying bye-bye. See ya.

-See you.

-Bye.

Joyce will now keep a close eye on Fizah.

I think it's not going to be easy for her

as it's not going to be easy for any young single parent.

In two weeks, Fizah will have to attend a meeting

at the Vulnerable Baby Service to review how she's coping as a mum.

I don't like feeling like I'm being judged.

She thought just because I was in care and because, you know,

I was living by myself that I didn't have any support, so, obviously,

that doesn't help either when people make assumptions of you

and, like, judge you and stuff.

So not a great experience of your midwife?

No.

I'm just being honest.

A day after coming home,

Fizah has asked that Joyce doesn't visit her at all.

I'd have liked to have been involved with her postnatal care,

but if it's not what she wants

then we do have a team of midwives

who all provide the same level of care.

But you stand by the referral?

I do, yeah.

You're almost finished now?

Determined to talk about that, aren't you? And I'm determined not to.

-Well, you are!

-I am, yes.

-You're retiring.

-That's right, next week.

How are you feeling about that?

It's happening.

After 30 years as a midwife, Joyce has handed in her notice.

I think midwives were almost respected in a different way.

When I started, the midwife was very much part of the family.

Now, because communities have broken up,

midwife isn't generally as known.

Hello, it's the midwife.

There's nobody here. Look.

-Excuse me.

-Yes.

-Nobody lives there now.

I just figured that out. We haven't got the other address.

-I'll have to ring.

-Number 33.

-Number 33 on this street?

-On this street.

Did I visit you?

-I think you did, actually.

-You look ever so familiar.

-I've got three under five.

-That's right.

-It's up while ago now, isn't it? Was it last year?

-Yes, for Isaac.

No, no, no.

I'm coming to get you. I'm coming. I'm coming.

Come on! Come on, come on, come on. There we are!

I'll miss the patients. I'll miss the clinics.

I will miss them, yes,

but sometimes it comes the right point to go and this just seems

like the right point to go.

Midwife Nikki Quinn has come to check on Monique and her baby boy.

This is what I need to know. Is this too warm in here,

-or... I don't know.

-It feels fine.

As long as it feels fine to you, that's all right.

Monique's ex, Stephen, has stayed the night.

-Hello.

-Hi, you all right?

-Yeah, you?

Doesn't scare me!

Hello!

Oh! I've been waiting to meet you.

-What's he called?

-Cole.

So, you know he's to be on his back and his feet at the bottom.

We always said they don't really need a hat inside

because we want to make sure they're nice and warm

but don't overheat them.

How are you feeling?

It's all right. Just tired now.

But it's good, yeah, he's cute, isn't he?

Think I worry about him more than her, you know,

when he's crying or something?

I don't know much about it.

None of my friends have had kids and a lot of my family's

not in Manchester.

Yeah. So you've not have that much exposure to them.

I've never really... I'd be the person that wouldn't hold a baby

or anything.

Now you've got your own!

That was like Grandad, yesterday, he come to visit but wouldn't hold.

See you. Take care.

Keep on changing those nappies!

It's kind of a nice surprise that he's around

and he seems to be bonding with his son and helping out a lot.

So it's nice to see because I didn't know he was around.

I presumed he wasn't around, to be honest.

With Joyce off the case, Mary steps in to visit Fizah.

Hi, how are you doing?

KNOCK ON DOOR

-Hello!

-Hi!

-Is it all right to come in?

-Yeah!

So, how does it feel to be at home?

-It feels good.

-Yeah.

I feel like I'm happy, I'm genuinely happy.

I feel really good about it.

BABY CRIES

And if you can, I know you feel like you're choking him,

but just get the teat completely to the top.

That's what I was going to ask, like, when I try and wind him,

sometimes something will come up and then other times nothing.

Like, I was just wondering, do they always have wind?

You know the times when it doesn't come up, is he just like fast asleep?

Yeah, yeah.

So it's not bothering him,

so, just keep him upright, just for a little while.

There we go.

So you literally would say that you pop him in right at the bottom

so his little feet are nearly touching there.

So a bit more lower?

Yeah, no, that's fine because he's right there, no, that's perfect.

I'm not a supermum. I don't know what I'm doing, this is first time.

-There is no such thing as supermum.

-I know, there isn't!

All the booklets!

In every aspect of your life there isn't a super...

Super teacher, super midwife, supermum, we're all...

human, we all...make mistakes.

After five days at home, there's been no sign of Fizah's ex, Mike.

OK, I've just got to leave it to cool down.

I still think he looks a lot like his dad at the moment. Definitely.

But he's not been back to see him either, so, yeah...

Yeah, it doesn't matter.

He's missing out, so...

Fizah is anxious about her meeting with the Vulnerable Baby Service.

I mean, to be honest,

I never thought I would be a mum at this age.

It is strange, definitely.

It's strange that the normal for you is that babies get taken away?

Yeah, that is, in our family.

Do you know what, I never...

I didn't even think about it like that way, in that way.

But, yeah. In our heads, we think that's what's going to happen.

Like, that's what tends to happen most people

because of what's happened.

It just makes me want to cry about it when I think about it.

Yeah, you just... You just think that it's a normal thing that

once you have a kid, that they'll take...take it away.

And how does it feel to have him?

I love him to bits, so much.

That's why we're scared of having children, like.

I just want to make sure he's happy and safe and I just want to...

Like I said, like I said before, I want to get on with things.

Thanks, Jean!

Oh, it's open, thank you.

Monique has been home for ten days

and Farhana is visiting to see how she and Stephen are coping.

A lot of the ladies do say, oh, you know, he's really trying now,

now the baby's here, he's really trying hard

or whatever. But if it lasts a lot longer than that, we don't know.

Who is it?

Hi, it's the midwife.

-Hi.

-Hi, are you OK?

-Are you dyeing your hair?

-Fake tan.

-Fake tan!

BABY STARTS TO CRY

Oh, smelly boy!

All right, you're not smelly, then.

Is that just me upset him?

Is this now your permanent residency?

-You're not... No issues with that?

-No.

Keeps me up all night, don't you?

-Look at your legs!

-Yeah, I know!

-One's tanned, one pale!

That's what motherhood does to you. Makes you lose the plot!

-Daddy around?

-Yeah, he's here, yeah.

-Oh, fine.

No, just because I didn't want you to be on your own

-and coping with the baby on your own.

-Oh, yeah. No, no.

-Do you've family about?

-Yeah.

-Friends?

-Yep.

Stinky...

-How are you feeling within yourself, physically?

-Fine.

-Tired?

-Yeah.

-Thank you very much.

-Thanks.

-So he's 7lb 3oz now?

-Yeah.

Monique is discharged from the midwife's care.

I've definitely seen it bring more families together

than break them apart, especially when it comes to the father.

Once that baby's here,

it just makes something click in the brain and they just...

they really get involved, and it's really, really nice to see that.

Stephen's taken two weeks' paternity leave.

He's going to stick around to help bring up Cole.

Ohh!

Got the hang of that.

What about you and Stephen, then?

Um...

Any chance you might...?

I don't know. See what the future holds.

See how it goes.

I think just Cole is the most important thing.

He smiled when I said that.

Just as long as we both do best by the baby,

that's all that matters.

Fizah's baby, Zade, is 19 days old.

It's the day of the meeting of the Vulnerable Baby Service.

I feel really, really nervous. Very, very nervous.

And my room is a state as well, as you can see.

I've been trying to find, like, a "perfect" top

but I just couldn't find anything, so...

I'm just... I'm just tired of, like, trying to fit in to, like,

a stereotype of what I should look like as a mum.

I'd just rather be myself from now on.

I feel really dehydrated...

'I have no idea what they're going to say or...

'I just don't know.'

Shall we start? We've come back together again

to review the plan that we did last time,

if you remember last time.

So, what date was he born?

10th March.

-8:37.

-Yeah, 8:37!

-And what's his name?

-Zade Nabil Mahmood.

-Can you spell it?

-It's Z-A-D-E.

So, in terms of how you are now, how are you getting on, Fizah?

I've just been getting on, just trying to...

Yeah, bring him up as much as I can.

You look really, really well. Really well.

-Yeah. Are you enjoying yourself?

-Yeah, definitely.

And how's it been going from a midwifery point of view?

Every mother, whether it's your first or your fifth baby,

you're getting over sleepless nights, probably for the last month before you're delivered,

and then the actual delivery and the labour,

and Fizah's just gone from strength to strength,

and is making a really, really, really good mum.

She really looks very well. She was anxious last time,

and nervous and not really able to communicate

as well as she was today, and she clearly looks very happy,

and the baby's thriving, so it's lovely to see.

It's agreed Fizah will be seen by the midwives for another ten days.

The Vulnerable Baby Service no longer needs to see her.

I don't know... I just feel really shocked because, like...

I thought they were going to bring up more stuff, but I'm really happy now.

I'm just...

I just can't wait now, just to get on with things proper and... Yeah.

Like, I'm just glad that is over, completely.

Hi, it's the midwife!

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