Episode three
Filmed across a year in one of the UK’s leading Fetal Medicine Units at St George’s Hospital, South London this new three-part documentary series is told through the eyes of the women and the medical teams who treat them.
Following expectant parents as they navigate medically and emotionally complex pregnancies, each episode reveals how, or even if, the parents and staff should intervene with the pregnancies. Using cutting-edge and pioneering new medicine, the fetal medicine clinicians face the most complex and challenging cases that exist in their area of expertise. But for some of the parents, the option to intervene comes too late.
This film tells the story of three women who have rare and medically complex pregnancies, all of whom are facing social, ethical and personal dilemmas about their babies’ futures. It follows the expectant mothers as they navigate tough decisions and make great sacrifices in order to give their babies the best chance at life.
Zoe’s baby has a large cyst growing on its neck, pushing on the airway, which could mean that it won’t be able to breathe for itself once born. To give the baby the best chance of survival, Professor Basky and his team attempt to establish an airway using a breathing tube whilst the baby is still in the womb, a procedure which has never been performed in the UK before.
Jenn is sixteen weeks pregnant and is carrying monochorionic twins; a very rare type of high-risk twin pregnancy where the twins share the same amniotic sac and placenta. One of the twin’s brains has not formed properly, meaning the baby will either face severe mental and physical disability, or may not survive the duration of the pregnancy and cause a miscarriage. Jenn and her partner must face the agonising decision as to whether they should intervene and end the life of the poorly twin, in order to try and save the life of the other.
Twenty-two-year old Latifah is pregnant spontaneously with triplets. Latifah describes how early into the pregnancy she made the decision to keep the babies and raise them on her own as a single mother. But when Latifah goes into pre term labour at just 22 weeks pregnant, she must choose whether to let nature take its course, or intervene to try and save the pregnancy.
Tune into Channel 4 tonight at 9pm to watch Baby Surgeons: Delivering Miracles live, or catch up via All 4.
Join us on Twitter as we live tweet throughout the episode and get involved using #BabySurgeons.
