Helen George: Call the Midwife horror stories put me off a natural birth

A star of Call the Midwife elected to give birth via caesarean section after working on the show put her off the idea of a natural birth.

Helen George called for a national conversation about C-sections, saying they can be a positive choice for women and should not be restricted to medical emergencies.

George plays midwife Trixie Franklin in the BBC period drama and is in a relationship with her co-star, Jack Ashton, who plays Rev Tom Hereward. She gave birth to their daughter, Wren, four months ago in an NHS hospital.

“I haven’t spoken about this before but I chose to have a C-section. It coincided with the fact that I had to deliver her early but, even without that, I would have gone for an elective caesarean because of what I’d learnt on Call the Midwife.

“Working on Call the Midwife means that lots of people tell you their horror stories about birth,” George told Radio Times.

The 33-year-old actress explained: “I’m not against natural birth, I’m pro whatever you feel is right for you. It’s not because I’m ‘too posh to push’, it’s about what I think my body is capable of. I’m not good with pain. I faint when I stub my toe. Not that a C-section is the easy way out. It’s a major operation...

“If men went through labour, I think the majority would choose the pain-free way, but there is a feeling that women should have to feel pain.”

Her character had to ‘perform’ a C-section during the 2016 Christmas special. George did her research then “and decided that if I ever got pregnant myself, that’s what I would do. Lots of people were shocked by that decision, but I’ve experienced natural childbirth through the legs of many an actress and I didn’t want to do it myself.”

George said people had tried to convince her not to have a C-section, and there is “a lot of shame” attached to the decision. But she urged women to have the confidence to request the procedure.

“I think there needs to be a national conversation about how C-sections are all right and they don’t just have to be for emergencies,” she said.

Women are entitled to a planned caesarean on the NHS, after discussion with a midwife or doctor about the risks. However, anecdotally, many women say they encounter hostility from medical professionals who try to talk them out of the idea.

George gave birth at Guy’s and St Thomas’s hospital in south-east London. The baby was delivered early because George was suffering from intrahepatic cholestasis, a liver disorder that develops in pregnancy and can be life-threatening for the unborn child.

George asked the anaesthetist to take mobile phone pictures of the procedure, including the moment her baby was delivered. The images are “quite graphic, but no different to the images on Call the Midwife”, she said.