Episode 3

Preena and Neet are expecting their second child. Preena has polycystic ovaries, so the couple didn’t think they’d ever be able to have children. Fortunately, Preena gave birth to a son and she’s now pregnant again and this time due to have a girl. Almost at term, she is told she may have to have her labour induced as she has been experiencing bleeding throughout her pregnancy.

Junior doctor Rich and yoga teacher Roo have their hearts set on a water birth at Birmingham Women’s Hospital. Initially everything goes to plan, with Roo in the birthing pool and Rich by her side, but as the hours go by the birth begins to take a different turn. Roo’s baby is in a ‘back to back’ position, making it difficult for her to deliver him without assistance. When the couple are transferred out of the birth centre into theatre, both must come to terms with the unpredictable nature of childbirth.

Twenty-two-year-old Hayleigh is having her first baby. It was an unexpected pregnancy, but she has her mum Gillian and new boyfriend Lewis there to support her. Hayleigh has been induced and, as can be common with first-time mums, her labour is progressing very slowly. Eventually, after five days in Good Hope Hospital, her baby boy is delivered by emergency caesarean section after medics become concerned about the baby’s heart rate. Lewis, who grew up without a dad, is determined to treat the baby as his own and be the kind of father he never had himself.

Fay is expecting her third child. Both she and her partner Ryan suspect they are having a girl and are at Birmingham Women’s Hospital for a scan that they hope will confirm the sex of their baby. Fay previously overcame cervical cancer, and after having part of her cervix removed, she has had an operation to insert an abdominal stitch to keep her baby inside the womb for as long as possible.