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Delivering a career
They're often pigeonholed as the "people that deliver babies", but that's only part of the vital service they provide: what is a midwife?
Glamorous mum Victoria has had an epidural and can’t feel anything from the waist down. This is making it impossible for her to push. “Are you too posh to push?!” her midwife, Tina, jokingly asks, but it’s a serious issue. Victoria is quickly becoming exhausted and unless she manages to push, the baby won’t come out without a lot of intervention.
Intervention is something second time mum Kerry Ann is very keen to avoid. Kerry Ann is desperate to have a homebirth and hopes her midwife Sharon will help her deliver naturally. But Kerry Ann overshoots her due date by 12 days and in the end has to go into hospital to be induced. With the baby struggling for breath, the delivery is far different from Kerry Ann’s dream.
Meanwhile, midwife Craig is one of only 94 male midwives in the country. With a male medical student in tow, they present a very macho front. Men have only been practicing as midwives for the past 12 years and even now are vastly outnumbered in their profession. Out of more than 33,000 midwives in the UK only 94 are men. Some mums mind, but luckily second time mum Sara doesn’t. Her delivery goes very smoothly with no pain relief except for gas and air.
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Content last updated: 16/05/2005
