Rare Look Inside An NHS Delivery Suite Midwives S2 E1 Our Stories

Hello, Ward 4. Midwife speaking. With the highest birth rate in 40 years, midwives are under more pressure than ever before. We filmed in busy maternity departments in Birmingham, Manchester and Cardiff. As the midwives deliver the next generation, with care and dedication. It's more than a job. It's your part of somebody's life and they never forget you. It's 7.30am and the start of the early shift on Ward 64 at St Mary's in Manchester. So there's a couple of things on the core huddle. Women requiring operative delivery at the moment is none. All the adult equipment's been checked and the neonatal equipment we've stocked up. Okay, Kerry, push into your bottom. Come on, Kerry. This is a high-risk delivery unit and midwife Jess is delivering her first baby of the day. Come on, keep going, keep going, keep going. Well done. Oh my God. Well done. Congratulations. It's lovely to be a part of it because it is a miracle and it's nice to be part of that miracle and that baby being born. With one baby safely delivered, she's on to the next. I'm helping deliver a baby by caesarean section today with Jane who is an IVF pregnancy and it's her first baby at the age of 45 which is pretty special I think. 45-year-old Jane and her 46-year-old husband Ed have been together for four years. We just used to be lonely lost souls talking in cyberspace and we used to have a laugh and we just clicked and the rest's history. Do you know what she's going to look like? Hopefully she'll have a nice nose, not as big as mine. Well done, are you okay? Yeah, excited. Excited, yeah? Yeah. Congratulations. It's like a child Christmas Eve. Yeah, that's great. We'll get Ed some scrubs and everything and then we'll get him in when you're all ready. Okay. How long have you waited for this moment? Oh, all my life. It's a big day for me. She's a very wanted, very, very wanted baby. It's a miracle really, isn't it? It's a blessing. It's a gift. Are you alright, Jane? Yeah. Yeah, she's got blood. There's a couple of units in the fridge. Jane can't give birth naturally because of previous surgery. A C-section is her only option for delivery. Just let me know when you're ready for the catheter and all. Yeah? I'm very, very nervous for fear of disappointment. I did have a loss and it's very difficult to talk about. I had a son who was born with special needs and he lived until he was nine. When you've lost one, you just don't forget. You know, you think lightning won't strike twice, but at the back of your mind it's always there. So seeing is believing and that's why today can't come soon enough. Are you alright? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've got some chills. I am, I am nervous. Take a seat on that stool there. Somebody just adjust the lights for me, please. Just watch these wires and everything. Okay. Okay, are you happy for us to start? Yep. Knife to skin. I'm just shaking. You're shaking, you're nervous. It's fine. Can I talk to you for a second, please? Do you want to hold my hand and see? I thought this was supposed to be head down, this baby. Yes, it was. I should not. Ready? Yeah. There we go. Go on. Come on, baby. Keep going. Hello, trouble. Happy birthday. Okay. There you go, guys. I'm not going to give her to you yet. I'm going to go and dry her off. But she's fine. Okay, congratulations. She's fine. I'm going to make sure she doesn't get cold. Alright. I missed. You've done it. We've got our daughter. Relieved. Yeah. Just a mixture of everything. Joy, relief. It's just fine. Congratulations. There you go. There's mum. I think he's completely overwhelmed. He's speechless. He can't speak. Bless him. It is emotional, especially in this kind of situation. It does touch your heart. And that's why the job's so amazing. The best things in life are worth waiting for. She's hungry. Look at her. She's really hungry. She's very hungry. Have a hold, mum. There you go. Yeah, she knows exactly what she's doing. How does that feel, Jane? Oh, amazing. Amazing. After waiting so long to be a mum. Wow. Midwives Leslie and Linda are looking after women who are having their labour induced. I was trained by Linda. That's why I've got deficits. That's why you got a first class degree, Liz. She liked to take credit for my first class honours degree, but I do think there was a lot of hard work on my part and my mentorship was average. It was okay, in parts. I had to bribe her for my grades. Yeah, it's a bit of a mixed bag, really. I am blamed for everything that you ever do wrong. Yeah. What's the phrase? You created a monster. They're just jealous of our bond, Linda. You know that, don't you? Yeah. I feel a bit nervous, to be honest, cos I don't know what I'm getting myself in for, really. But hopefully it won't be too painful. Neelam is seven months pregnant and has type 1 diabetes. She's spent the last two months as an inpatient on the maternity ward. I think I've been here that long. It's like my second home. It is, huh? Nervous and excited that it's finally... The day's finally here, yeah. Neelam is having her labour induced, two months ahead of her due date. Scary. So Neelam is a type 1 diabetic, which she's lived with from probably quite a young age. And when somebody goes into pregnancy, there are complications and Neelam's kidneys haven't been doing too well of late. The doctors have decided they can't push the pregnancy any further now. And that's what it's all about. It's about weighing and juggling and measuring that risk. Her kidneys, her diabetes and the well-being of her baby. Yeah? Hi. Is it Neelam? It is her. Hi, I'm Lesley, the midwife. How are you? OK. Excited to be here? Yeah. Got to the end, huh? I'm a diabetic baby, aren't I? You do? Yeah. Yeah, it's been really hard. Difficult pregnancy? Very difficult, yeah. But I haven't let myself think that. Obviously you're being induced on delivery unit because of your risk factors with your medical history. Yeah. So it'll be a big team involvement to make sure that we keep you well, safe and also your baby. We'll look after you, don't worry. All right, I'll pop these heavy notes down because I think there's a lot going on there. You've been doing your injections? Yeah. I already knew I'd have a complicated pregnancy through diabetes and then finding out that my kidneys weren't functioning due to my pregnancy. I was quite distraught, I was upset. I've wanted to be a mum for a long time and I was just determined that I wouldn't let my diabetes get the better of me and that I was going to try, at least, just try and have a baby. It's a happy baby. Yeah. I just hope it's not that happy because it needs to come out now. Babies are not due to be born at 32 plus weeks. Their respiratory lung effort is not good. We know that. So you would never want to deliver a baby at this gestation unless you really had to. So the baby also is going to come out with risk but you have to measure that risk of the baby versus the risk of the mother and the mother will always come first. We've got you now. Putting a label on your wristband. You're stuck with me now, really. I think the risk for Neelam here is that you don't want her kidneys to fail. Then you have got somebody who is critical on dialysis. The medical team want Neelam to deliver naturally. Just feel me putting something in. It may be a bit cold because it's kept in the fridge. And that's all done. But with her kidney function deteriorating, she has just 24 hours to go into labour or she'll be given a caesarean section. I just hope it's not going to get too complicated. I hope God gives me a bit of a break now. Hello, sweetheart. Hello. It's all happening? Yeah. So let's... Well, as long as you don't keep your legs crossed now. Doctor said baby was quite low. Neelam's mum Miriam and husband Faisal have arrived for moral support. I am. I'm more tense as well because I hope she's going to be OK. Half of Rochdale's looking out for her. She's been really, really brave. This is the water from that plant, so... OK. Here's hoping. Miriam has brought her own natural remedies to help her daughter into labour. Taste a bit. It's good, eh? And this is banjiri. It's like a soup of food, really. And it's going to give a strength in the labour as well. And there's the halva. It's like Pakistani porridge. The remedies are just fantastic, aren't they? I love it. Can't get enough of all that. When Mary gave birth to Jesus, she drank this water from this flower. It's supposed to resemble the womb and it opens up as the womb will open up while you're drinking the water. You don't expect the midwife to drink it as well. Only when you get pregnant. No, no, no, those days are over. We don't really know if it works, do we? But even so, if you believe in something, then that's good enough for me. I love it. Can't get enough of a mum. What do you want me to have next? Some more water. As long as it works. Well, inshallah. If we will her that much that we want her to have a natural birth, and we do, of course we do, when midwives were trained in the natural, I think you, you and I, we should all start drinking the flowery stuff. Do you want to jump? No. Two at a time? No. Let's see if you can do two at a time. She's got until tomorrow to get herself into labour, and we would love for her to be able to have this baby vaginal. It's safer. Caesarean section's massive. It's major surgery, and it's not something we take lightly here. I'm trying to get this baby out as fast as I can. The induction of labour for first babies is quite a lengthy process, and I think it's looking pretty unlikely. My heart's saying one thing, but my head's saying the other, really, so it's difficult. Mum with the water. Yeah. It'll take your mind off things. Maybe we should put a bit of brandy in. Indian brandy, of course. Let's do this together, yeah? Yeah. Swing your hips to the left, then to the right. That's it. That was it, wasn't it? Okay, go on then. Keep rocking those hips. Hello, delivery suite. Midwife speaking. I should even possibly be able to take all three if we don't get anybody else in, but obviously we'll do it in order, and then we'll review it again after that. All right, Chuck. Bye, bye. Halfway through her morning shift, senior midwife Vicky is coordinating the deliveries for the rest of the day. Sarah, did we say your lady could go to 47? Yes. What's her blood pressure like? I'm just going to bob to room four and check they're all right in there. I like the challenge of it, I suppose. Yeah, room three is going to do. I do like the unpredictability of what you come into in the morning. Can you bring her down and bring me into room five because I know that room's done. Okay, bye, bye. Probably a little bit of the adrenaline rush. I think some people jump off a cliff or climb a big mountain or, I don't know, do extreme sports, but I like being here, I do. I enjoy it a lot. Oh, she's gorgeous. That was nice. We have a baby in four. Oh, and Sam likes writing it on the board. It's delivered. It's really satisfying. It is so satisfying. Delivered. It's the start of a new shift for midwife Gemma, and she is assigned to Helen and Ben. Hello. Okay. Right, shall we get this baby out? Yeah. Can I just have a quick feel of your tummy first? Do you know what you're having? It's supposed to be a girl. Have you got loads of pink stuff there? Oh, yes. We've been together about nine years. First date was at a boxing match, wasn't it? In Salford, yeah. And it just went from there, really, didn't it? Now we've got three boys and hopefully a little girl here. I'd love a little girl, but after last time, it's also brought the worry with it. Just be happy to have her home. We don't get too excited until we know everything's okay. Just want him to be all right. Have you been on juice before? Yeah. Last time and the time before, I don't know if it's different because we lost the baby. Well, we didn't lose her. I don't know how to really describe it. She's lost a baby in one of her previous pregnancies at 21 weeks, so she's very anxious, understandably. We've lost her. No trouble with this one. She must be terrified, and I think any of us in that situation would feel the same. Is she wriggling a lot? Yeah, a lot more now sat here than she was before. I think she feels the further that she progresses in her pregnancy, the more nervous she's becoming, so we're inducing her at her request. Wonderful. Right, I'll pop back in about 10 minutes and just make sure that she's still recording, okay? Okay. All right. Three years ago, Helen and Ben discovered they were expecting a girl, but scans in early pregnancy revealed problems with the baby's development in the womb. Her bladder was just taking over her body, really. I mean, if you saw it on the scan picture, it was just like a big black hole, and it was crushing her lungs, and her kidneys weren't developing properly. We had to make a decision what to do, and at 20 weeks, we had to, unfortunately, terminate the pregnancy. There wasn't really any other way around it. The decision had to be made, and she had to be born, she was delivered. When she'd come out, she was actually breathing, which shocked us both, so we just kind of had to hold her until she passed and stopped breathing, which was one of the worst things. It was my mum's birthday the day that we lost her, and I rang my mum and said, Mum, we've had a baby, it's a little girl, and I was like, as if I should have been jumping for joy, but I was excited. I don't understand why. Okay, only about an hour she was alive for, but she was in the world for that hour, wasn't she? They kind of wrapped her up for us, photographed her, did all the palm prints, footprints, and just did... They didn't leave us at the bank. And let you stay with the baby overnight, which sounds bizarre, but... I couldn't have just walked away. No. I think that was important. Don't have to share their toys this time, have you? No, hopefully not. Mind you, she'll probably be into, like, football or something. Well, she's bound to be, isn't she, with three brothers? I don't think you ever get over it, but I think it's more now. It's not at the front of your mind, it's at the back of your mind. Right, so put the soles of your feet together near your bottom if you can. It's really hard for ladies like Helen to come back here and face labour again after what they've experienced. They get to the hospital doors and those emotions all come flooding back, and that makes what is an already scary experience even more terrifying for them. So hopefully this will give you some tightenings and they'll make your cervix thinner and hopefully dilate it a little bit so we can break your waters. Thank you. You're welcome. Let's hope it works. Our role as midwives is to support them. That's all we can do. We won't ever get rid of the memories, but we have to focus on this pregnancy and it being a happy time and with a positive outcome. And if we just help them a tiny bit, get through the experience, then it's all been worth it for us. Just want her out of safety, don't we? I just want... I won't be happy till she's out. I just think anything can happen. But I'm trying not to think, I'm trying to be calm about it all. It's only been a day, you're all right. Oh, God! Today's lovely because we're not having to intervene, we've not had to rush to theatre, and that's kind of what being a midwife is about. Well done, you! Congratulations, my darling. Well, you took your bloody time. I'll just go and wrap him up in a towel first, OK? Just cos he's not as warm as you are, yeah? You're privileged that you get to see life being brought into the world, but I don't think people always appreciate the pressures of the job, or how complex some of the situations can be. Go back down to the rainbow room. Yeah. Watch you don't hurt yourself. Life is really precious, and I think sometimes it brings it home to you a little bit more, when maybe those outcomes aren't the best that we wanted them to be. You know, or we've tried so hard, and, you know, sometimes babies don't make it. That's better. That's better. Right. As well as coordinating the team on the delivery unit, Vicky and colleague Emma are dedicated bereavement midwives, looking after families who have lost their baby. We have two rooms. We have this one that we're showing you now, and then we've got room one, which is just across the way. People can stay here as long as they need to, and that's why we wanted somewhere that feels peaceful and calm and they can reflect. Do you think it goes? Let's have a look. Let's just lie it on the bed. That's a good idea. I don't think it matches. Do you not? I think it's really pretty, but I think it's too dark. Mm. Do you? I do. I don't think it matches. No, I don't. The feedback we'd got was that we needed a bit more colour in here. It's not as sage as we wanted, though, is it? Pop it on for now until the other things arrive, and we can have a look and see which ones. We can't undo what's happened, unfortunately, but we can do a lot to make it better. Time with the baby can be very important in helping people accept what's happened, and I think it's quite important that we have a place like this to allow families to create memories in a short period of time, which is going to help them on their journey and help them with the grieving process. Oh, they are so sweet. Mm. Oh, lovely, aren't they? All handmade. That's really nice. God, that's really, really nice. These boxes are for any parents, families, siblings that have had a baby that's passed away. We thought they were just beautiful and lovely, and the fact that they were made by families that had lost a baby made it even more special. Each one of them has a little card in the front of them before you open them up, and they're just a little note from somebody who's made the box up, and it just basically says, Hi, we are Kirsty and Michael, and our son Lewis was born sleeping on the 10th of December. Sorry, I can't read that without getting upset. Well, I definitely won't be able to until you've started me off. Oh, I'm such a softie, honestly. Oh, I can't read it. We're professionals, but we're also human beings, and we have to be strong for the women because we're kind of trying to get them through their difficult time, but there will be moments when you have a teary moment with a couple because we don't want anybody to lose their baby. That's not what we came into Midriff for. I feel, in a funny way, that's my calling, to look after people who've suffered a loss. It doesn't get any easier. I don't think you accept it. I mean, I think the day that you become blasé about this or think, well, this is just another baby that's passed away is the day you need to walk out of the building and not come back. But on the flip side, for every family that we have that loses a baby, we have 400 in the month, say, for example, who have lovely, healthy babies. That keeps me upbeat, that I see nice, normal deliveries and good outcomes. That's a lovely little baby. It's lucky that she can come down. That leg is still in recovery because her blood pressure keeps dropping. So, is it all right if you could just... Take the twinnies. Neelam, I'm just going to recheck it. A different size calf for your blood pressure. It's been 24 hours since Neelam's induction of labour began and midwife Kat has taken over her care. Your blood pressure? It's still on the high side, so I'm going to speak to the doctors and see what they want to do, OK? Any headaches at all? Yeah, I've got a bit of a headache. Neelam has diabetes and the pregnancy is causing her kidney function to drop dangerously low. Stings. Big, big, big, deep breaths. The team need to decide whether to continue or deliver the baby by caesarean section. You can just get into the neck of the womb, but it's still pretty long and closed, really. We gave it a whirl, didn't we? Yeah, we tried. We did try. Well done for trying. Let's do your caesarean. Her blood pressure's getting higher, her kidney function and the blood results are getting more deranged, so it's affecting her quite a lot and that's why the consultants decided for her to go for caesarean. It's upset me a bit, but... I need to stay strong. I can't cry. Now my worry's just that baby's OK when it gets out. SIGHS Has your mum come in? Yeah, they've set off, so... Does it take long for them to come in? It can take up to an hour, depending on traffic. It's a shame that Mum's not here, but hopefully she'll get here on time. I'll be your mum. I'll look after her. Neelam Ali's mum, Kat, says if she arrives, they need to bring her in. She's very nervous, but we're all there to reassure her. The baby's premature, she's not very well, so she needs all the support she can get, really. OK, I'm going to get started, then. Thank you. Neelam's baby is being delivered two months early and will be taken straight to intensive care after it's born. Hello. Aww. You're not very impressed, are you? Neelam, can you say yes? OK, all right. All I want to do is just pick her up. Do you have a quick pee? Yeah. We've just got Oxygen going into the incubator, so I don't want to take too much. I'm just relieved. The baby looks really healthy. It really was just like looking at Neelam, when Neelam was born. Like a little snowdrop. It was a beautiful moment. Shukran, Alhamdulillah. We're blessed. We're blessed. The baby probably needs a little bit of assistance, breathing and feeding, and just make sure the baby's healthy and safe. And then hopefully, when Neelam's better, she can go over and see baby. It's not nice knowing that she's on a ventilator. But hopefully she'll get better, and I'll get better, and then we can be together. Can't wait for her to start to feel well again, and, you know, start being the mum that she wants to be. I'm really, really conscious that it frightens like it is. Lesley retrained as a midwife seven years ago. A little birdie told me that you've got doughnuts. There's a few of us round there. Now I've got to look after the midwives on that side of the unit, who are the forgotten souls of midwifery. My husband has sent me a nice salad, a tea. But we'll just take the doughnuts for strength. I was a dental nurse for 24 years. The reason I wanted to become a midwife was the influence I was given from a midwife, who I met whilst I was an inpatient, having my fourth child. And it wasn't the happiest of events, and my little girl was really poorly. Hello, midwife speaking. Yeah. I was obviously upset, and she said, oh, you know, God only sends special children to special mums and dads. And that was it. Obviously, I had a little cry, and she gave me a hug. And I just thought, oh, my God, how amazing is your job? And then I became a midwife, and now I know. How hard it is. We're having a Chinese. Chinese before it happens, the big day. OK. Today, I'm looking after Lisa and Matthew. They're expecting identical twins, which is quite exciting. Double the trouble. Where's the rice, Daddy? I'm going to give it to you now. OK, my piggy. My froggy. Where are you going to put him? I can eat all of that. I've got twins. That's it. 32-year-old Lisa has high blood pressure, so her labour is being induced two weeks early. I'm messy already. Messy already. I'm going to get you a tissue. No! Don't make me so stupid. The medical team need to make sure she doesn't develop pre-eclampsia, which would be dangerous for both Lisa and her babies. Yeah. It's OK. It's a little bit elevated, but not that massive. There's nothing to be concerned about. We met in a nightclub. We met on that night, and since that night, we've never been apart, so we've always been together. You know, when you meet the right person, it's the connection that we both have, which is good. So, yeah. Then we created our little tweenies. This is Thomas, and then Nicholas. It's all biblical. Gift of God and twins, isn't it? I felt so amazing to be a double dad. Yeah. So excited. Can't wait. Hello. Hiya. Is it Lisa? Hi, I'm Leslie. I'm the midwife. I'm going to be looking after you today. Nice to meet you. How are you? Are you OK? Exhausted. Oh, that's before we started. It's been 24 hours since Leba was induced, and she's now ready for the next stage of the process. OK. I'm just going to attempt to break a water. Just uncross your legs for us now. Uncross those legs. And nice and relaxed, Lisa. Shh. OK? Shh. Jobs are good. Shh. Well done. Shh. I've had some ups and downs with twins, if I'm honest. It is a high-risk pregnancy. Most of the time it goes really well, but sometimes it can be a little bit problematic. So you've always got that at the back of your mind. Shh. It is really important to make sure that we have two separate heartbeats and that they're different and we're not monitoring one baby. Shh. You're also observing her well-being and obviously looking at risk factors. You know there's a higher risk of bleeding. The placental site is much bigger. So it's making sure that you're ready as a midwife and you're sort of pre-empting every eventuality so that you're quite prepared. I'm having contraction again, sorry. Shh. Are you feeling these? Very painful. Yeah. Ooh. Very painful. That's good. I'll speak to the anaesthetist again because I know you're very keen for an early epidural. I'm not good at pain. You know, when I had my son when I was 17, I had been traumatised of giving birth because no painkiller whatsoever. So I thought if I'm going to give birth again, he has to have some kind of strong painkiller. Shh. I'm just going to clean your butt. Nervous. Shh. It's a little tricky, but it's to find the right place to do the injection, OK? OK. Are you OK with these sorts of things? No. Maybe not watch then. It's in? OK, well done. We're just going to tape it all down now, so just watch your head. At the moment, she's quite stable. She's good. That can change very quickly. It's about keeping an eye on her observations and the things that change about a woman. It's all your fault, see, isn't it? Oh, really? It's my fault. Painful. Shh. Put your arms in, honey. And again. Get back through, OK? All right. Hello, little one. Aw, you're only a dirty one. It's the late shift, and midwife Maya is on the induction bay. Just getting the bed prepared for our next admission. On top of that, I've got a woman who's got a very high blood pressure, which I've had to give medication to, and I've got a woman that's on baby monitoring. And on top of that, I've got Helen. I'm crying. Helen? Is she OK? She's not going to get through this at the minute. OK. Why is it hurting? Does this pain come and go? It's cramp, she's saying. It's cramp. It's cramp? It's cramp. Is it always there? No, it just keeps coming up, you know what I mean? Yeah. Helen chose to have her labour induced after losing her baby three years ago. It feels like cramps, it's just horrendous. This is just stupid, though. I've never experienced anything like this before. Well, you're going to make the last to remember, aren't you? Make sure that you don't come back again. Helen's struggling quite a bit with nerve pain at the moment, so she's finding it very difficult to stay upright, to try and get this head to come a bit lower, so I'm just hoping that a bath will help with the pain that she's getting. Right, OK. Is it going off now? No. No? OK. At the moment, she is quite distressed with the pain. It's about reassuring her that this can happen. Oh, God. On top of that, she's also quite emotional, thinking about the possibilities of what can go wrong, especially when she's lost a baby, so she's battling physically and mentally. It's on, Maya. Yeah, I've got her out of the bath. Is she OK? Yeah, but she's fine like that. She's in a mess, isn't she? I'm so fed up. Let's get you to bed. Unfortunately, you cannot predict the future, but I'm just keeping an eye on her and keep giving her the support that she's needing and to reassure her that at this moment in time, things are going the right way and things are normal. All you need to do is focus on what you're going to get at the end of all this pain and discomfort and waiting. You're going to have your daughter, so it's all going to be worth it, yeah? I know it's tiring, yeah? I'm scared. Yeah, I know you're scared, and everyone's scared during this time, but you've done it before, yeah? You can do it again. I don't want it to go wrong. No, we're monitoring you and we're monitoring baby closely, OK? And nothing will be looking after you, OK, all the way through this, so don't worry. We'll give you your daughter, yeah? You'll be cuddling her soon, yeah? Just focus on that, yeah? Just breathe for me. Helen. That's good news. Breathe it for me, breathe. Breathe for me. That head's down now. Head down? Mm-hmm. Ah! Good. Right, I need to get you to the delivery suite because you're about 7, 8 centimetres now, OK? Well done, darling. You've done really well. All right? Keep breathing. Do you want me to get Helen? Helen, listen. Listen, don't be scared, all right? Listen, Helen, this is what you've been waiting for now, OK? Stay nice and calm as you've been doing. We'll give you some gas, all right? Breathe for me. Helen, listen, this is all good. You're going to see her soon, all right? If you get a contraction, Helen, remember, breathe it through like you've been doing, OK? Don't be scared, sweetheart. You're in the right place, it's fine. Lisa? It's only me. Do you want me to hold that while you do? Mm-hmm. Yeah? I'll give you both hands. Thank you. Go for it. I don't like it, all the blemishes, I don't like it. You look beautiful. Hey, I'm OK now. Yeah. Considering you're in labour with twins, don't forget. Yeah. It's what makes you feel comfortable, isn't it? Yeah, I've got everything in there. And if that's your comfort zone and you need to do that, then that's fine. She's doing very well, and the babies are really happy at the moment. That's the main thing as well, so we've got happy babies and progress, so that's good. Happy babies, happy everyone. We're all happy. That's good. OK. My little sunshine. Sunshine. Is that her? She's like a little baby. Yeah. An hour later, Liza's condition is causing concern. Yeah, you're cold now. Just count your pulse. You feel a bit clammy? A little bit clammy? Just going to give her a bit of paracetamol, temperature's on its way up. Sometimes epidural increases it slightly, but it shouldn't increase it to the top end, and also her pulse rate is going up, so just getting it under control quickly. And that should hopefully bring things down. Also, the baby's baseline rate's kind of creeping up as well, so we've got to keep a closer eye now, definitely, as we're progressing. Coming at you at all ends here. Multitasking. Mirror. Mirror, baby. Quickly. You're doing really well, Liza. You look really strong. Yeah? Are you OK? It's hurting a lot, is it? It makes you wonder, as a midwife, in the back of your mind, actually, is she progressing to fully? That's definitely in the back of my mind. Freezing. Cold. Liza, let me just examine you, Liza, cos I'm just wondering whether your baby wants to come sooner. Matt's going to hold that for you, and I want you to stay calm, cos it's all OK. No, it's all OK. It's OK. OK, cold jelly. It's really hot down there. OK, really hot inside as well. Can we speak to the doctors? What we're going to do is get you over into theatre, my love. Let's get these babies out as soon as we can for you. OK, you just need to get your babies delivered. The medical team rush Liza to theatre, fearing that the placenta may have separated from the uterus, meaning the babies could be starved of oxygen. Oh, ----. What about babies? Yeah, they're just in surgery now. Both babies are delivered within minutes, but are struggling to breathe. Mister. I've never felt like that before. It's like... her life and the two babies. And start crying. Mister. Go in the scales and say, I don't like that. Good boy. Woo-hoo. Thomas, good boy. Your mummy will be very pleased, and will Daddy. Good boy. Congratulations, Matt. This is Thomas. Hello, Daddy. Are you OK? We'll chat later about it. It was all a bit rushed, but we'll have a proper chat. OK, and there's Nicholas over there. Is everything fine? You're right, a really emotional time. Come on, it's OK. Yeah, she's fine. She's asleep. She hasn't seen him, but she's OK. Thomas, I know you're hungry. Good boy. I can't describe it. It's too hard. It's right there. I'm just calming down, probably like everybody else, because it is horrendous when you're responsible for that woman in that room. You can be smiling one minute, and you can be legging it to the theatre with your heart in your mouth in the next minute. Sleep now. OK. All in a day's work. Yeah, it's not good for the stress levels this job at all. Hey. How are you? You OK? It's hard to understand what's happened properly at the moment, I'm sure. Yeah, but your boys are beautiful. Just rest. Everyone look after the babies. OK? And you still look stunning. Some days, I just don't know how you do do it, how you come back for the next shift. I go home many a time and I think, I don't want to be a midwife. It's just such a responsibility. It's the start of life, and equally, if things go wrong, it can be quite dramatic. OK, go on, just... You're doing brilliant. It's the night shift, and midwife Simone is looking after Helen, and labour is progressing quickly. You're doing fantastic. That's it, well done. I've lost it. You haven't at all. You've progressed really, since your warts have gone, you've just gone like that quickly, so I think that's all it is, yeah? Emma, she wants to have an epidural, but I think she's going to crack on too quick. Are you free to have a chat with me? Unfortunately, she's becoming more distressed with the pain now, but it may be you sit them up for the epidural and things progress quite quickly, and quite often they'll have sighted the epidural, but they don't actually get a chance for the drugs to work. You're doing brilliant, you're nearly there now. Yeah, baby's coming down, Helen. OK, yeah. Can you feel that pressure there? Yeah, go on, push us against that, yeah? To help Helen focus, midwife Simone calls on coordinator Alison for support. I'm running up now. Please stop this pain. Helen, listen, you can do this. We're going to do this together. Listen to me, Helen. You're panicking, and it's normal to panic at this stage, but you must use all your contraction support. Making noise while you're pushing isn't a problem, but it is if it's stopping you pushing. If you're not actually pushing, then all you're doing is delaying everything for you, and you're going to get more tired. You have to be aware why she probably is more anxious than the majority of mothers going through this sort of process, and the majority of ladies have that sort of panicky feeling, I can't manage this, I can't do it. You've got no energy left. Helen, do you want to go on all fours? That's the way. That's fantastic, well done. Wow, brilliant. Go on, Helen, it's coming out now. She's coming. Keep going. There we go. Hello, big girl. Hello. She's a girl. Yeah, confirmed, definitely a girl. Yeah, absolutely, 100%. Hello. Welcome to the world. Well done. She's a big girl. Let me get you a clean towel, OK? Aw, well done. Thank you. Well done. Beautiful. Well done. She's a girl. She's really, really precious. I wonder if she looked like what Amy would have looked like. Got the same nose. Yeah. I think she will just complete the family. We wanted a girl for so long. Since we lost Amy, I knew I couldn't give up until I got one. Hello, how are you? I'm good. Tough time yesterday. I was very scared. I know, I was too. You look amazing. Thank you. Considering what you've been through. How's your boys? They're cute. Have you had a proper cuddle? Just Thomas. Because earlier I was very, very dizzy. They're gorgeous. They're very cute. I think so. Which is a good thing. I can still joke even if I'm in pain. You've not lost your sense of humour in all of this, have you? I'm happy now. I know you are. That's good. I need to get back to my women. Thank you. Bye, Matt. Keep me posted on our boys. Any midwife will tell you that's the outcome they want. I just feel a bit relieved now that everything's okay. As far as shifts go, that is probably up there at the highest of some of my worst shifts. It reminds you actually just how close things can become. You can't really express it. I'm so happy. It can't really just come out of my stomach, isn't it? But yeah. They're my two babies. But something in a midwife draws you to the good days and you have to come back, brush yourself off, because there's always another mum and dad, another family that just need you to carry on and look after them. Women continue to come through the doors and deliver, and midwifery goes on.