Delivering Under Pressure

This film follows the midwives on the Central Delivery Unit at Saint Mary's Hospital in Manchester - one of the busiest labour wards in the country. These midwives have to work out how best to look after each mum and her baby, whilst juggling the resources of a modern hospital.

Midwife Gill mans the triage desk, assessing the women who demand to be admitted. She has to decide who's in labour: who to admit and who to send home. Midwife Ann looks after Carren and Barry whose baby has not been moving. They've returned to give birth at St Mary's after losing their newborn a year ago. Charlotte's been on the induction ward waiting for a bed to come free, for 29 hours, before midwife Gill helps her deliver her baby. This film shows what it's like for midwives to care for families at the most special time of their lives, whilst dealing with the unpredictability of birth and the pressures of the NHS. It's a high-risk unit and the midwives never know what's coming next: which delivery will be straightforward, and which will be terrifying.