 News
2nd October 2006
Row over plans to broadcast live birth
Channel Five is to broadcast a woman giving birth live on TV for the
first time.
The creators of Big Brother will show Birth Night Live next
Sunday.
The show will follow up to 18 labouring women in a 2-hour
special, in the hope that one of them will actually give birth in that
time.
If not, the producers plan to extend the programme for up
to two more hours.
The programme is scheduled to start at 8pm and nakers Endemol
say it aims to 'celebrate the miracle of birth'.
However, the show has been slammmed by midwives and parents'
groups.
The Royal College of Midwives is considering lodging a formal
complaint about the programme before it is broadcast, even though the
broadcasting watchdog will not be able to deal with this until the programme
has been transmitted.
The expectant mothers have all agreed to be filmed giving
birth naturally and without pain relief but midwives say the presence
of a camera crew will cause unnecessary additional stress.
A member of staff at The Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham
where the show is to be broadcast from said, "Some of us have very
big reservations about this. If they really want to show the wonder of
birth, why don't they film it and then transmit it once they know everything
has gone well and mother and baby are fine?
"Childbirth isn't always that simple and things can go wrong.
Imagine if there was some disastrous complication, live on TV, where perhaps
the mother or the baby was in serious danger.
"A TV crew in the room won't help, and the truth is that
staff do react in a different way if a camera's there.
"I can't believe the hospital has actually agreed to do
this."
The hospital has confirmed that they will receive payment
for the programme but have not disclosed how much.
Janet Fyle, the Royal College of Midwives' educational adviser,
said, "Women are at their most vulnerable when they give birth. It's a
very intimate and intense time for the family and having strangers there
could really increase the stress levels.
"They may have given their consent... but what if they change
their mind halfway through? We cannot support this."
The National Childbirth Trust has also raised concerns.
"There is absolutely no need to film this live, other than
pushing up the TV ratings of course," said chairman Belinda Phipps.
Channel Five and Endemol have defended the programme.
Executive producer Elaine Hackett said, "We will film as
much as possible and we will certainly show the mother and her baby coming
out of her.
"Our teams are very experienced and they know if there was
the slightest problem, they would stop filming immediately."
A Five spokesman said, "We have always said that this is
an attempt to show a live natural birth.
"It's quite a busy maternity ward anyway so we expect something
to happen but, of course, we can't guarantee you will see something from
start to finish."
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