Birth Stories

Radio host Marianne and her husband Kelly are closing the deal on their first house just two weeks away from her due date. Marianne's day starts at 4:00 a.m. and on-air during her morning show, she's busy fielding calls from avid listeners about her pregnancy.

Marianne looks forward to having her labour induced, thinking that this way she'll be in control of when the baby arrives. Tim invents the term "dather" to describe his role as donor-father.

Despite the induction, Marianne is still waiting to go into labour. After several days, she's admitted to the hospital where the waiting game continues. Verging on complete exhaustion, she finally gives birth to Abigail. Jocelyne's career responsibilities and unpredictable lifestyle wear out one nanny in a matter of weeks. Tsuki comes home refreshed from her time away.

Complications move Gail's due date up. She has a Cesarean under general anesthetic since a bone chip in her back would make natural childbirth dangerous. Janice watches with some misgivings as Tony leaves on one last bike trip on his Harley before they become parents. Felicia and Dwaine are at a crisis point in their relationship as their third child is born.

Back from his bike trip, Tony gets a haircut so he can look more like a father; Janice does yoga in the hope of making their baby turn out of the breach position. Felicia is getting stir crazy at home and is still having trouble bonding with her baby. After a few false starts, Tsuki gives birth to a baby girl at home with her midwife, her husband and her young son, Fingal there.

Maria's mom holds a huge Italian baby shower and invites 80 friends and family members. Two days after her C-section, Gail renews her wedding vows with Dean. With the baby still in breach position, a nervous Janice heads to the hospital with Tony for her C-section and the birth of her baby girl, Lily.

Carol is busy trying to get her husband, Alain, to Canada in time for the birth of their child. Her friends and family have doubts about her marriage; is it love or does Alain just want to leave Cuba?

Helen's contractions start the morning after Michael gets out of the hospital after being treated for stomach problems. She calls the midwife, goes into labour and gives birth to a baby girl at home, surrounded by family. Carol is days past her delivery date and there's still no indication of when her husband Alain will be able to come to Canada.

Janice and Tony adjust to the big changes a newborn causes to their old biker ways. Hanna and her husband David have just moved here from Israel and are going through the stressful experience of a high-risk pregnancy. Hanna is a 40-year-old insulin-dependent diabetic, having her third child against the advice of loved ones.

Tsuki juggles one-month-old Luna with her need to restart her career as an artist. After two previous miscarriages, Barb is not taking anything for granted this time around. She's a theatre producer and keeps her schedule busy to distract herself. Hanna, whose diabetes has made her pregnancy high-risk, faces her scheduled Cesarean with high anxiety.

Dramatic and emotionally-charged, the verité-style series follows the real-life experiences of eleven expecting women as they face the complexities of pregnancy, the intensity of giving birth and the realities of bringing a new life into the world.

Because Rosanna has faced so many complications during her pregnancy, she and her husband David have barely been able to enjoy it. A festive baby shower in her last month is a welcome surprise. The day for Hanna's scheduled C-section arrives. Barb, the unstoppable theater producer, rehearses for a performance scheduled to take place just days after her due date.

Danielle and Joop get used to life with their new son, Jasper. After many anxious months during a difficult pregnancy, Rosanna is finally able to relax and enjoy being pregnant, three weeks away from her due date. She and her cousin are due at the same time and together they ham it up for a photographer.

Danielle jumps through hoops to get a passport for her newborn son Jasper so they can visit family in Holland. Rosanna's difficult pregnancy culminates with the birth of a healthy seven-pound son, Gavin. After having to go through pregnancy and birth on her own, Carol's efforts to get her husband from Cuba into Canada finally pay off!

Lucy, 21, found out she was pregnant at the same time she discovered she has a life-threatening bone marrow disease. Her boyfriend abandoned her, but Lucy's family is strong and supportive.

Lucy's bone marrow disease makes her pregnancy intensely high-risk; she requires weekly blood transfusions and constant monitoring. At eight months pregnant, Jennifer, a 23-year-old aspiring opera singer, finds the breathing necessary for singing a challenge. At a routine check-up three weeks before her due date, Suzi's doctor finds the baby has positioned herself head-down.

Eleanor was a nightclub hostess with a steady boyfriend when she got pregnant. Now she's on her own, on social assistance, and looking for an apartment - no mean feat when rents are high and vacancies are low.

Jennifer uses her years of opera training to keep her breathing focused during labour. Eleanor still can't find an apartment and is convinced landlords are discriminating against her as a pregnant single mom. Cindy, a grade three teacher and the mother of two, is in the final weeks of her pregnancy. She's tired and worried, still traumatized by her first pregnancy, which ended in a stillbirth.

Born with a crippling disease called Arthrogryposis Angie requires daily morphine for her chronic arthritic pain and worries about the effects on her unborn baby. Eleanor moves into her sister's place after a futile apartment search but after a few tense days she moves on to a maternity shelter for homeless women.

Angie goes to all her doctor's appointments armed with a long list of questions. Her pregnancy is going well but her use of morphine for chronic arthritic pain means she'll have to monitor her newborn for addiction. Angie is touched when her mother throws her a surprise shower. Eleanor has spent the final weeks of her pregnancy on her own in a maternity shelter for homeless women.

Angie heads off for her scheduled Cesarean in great spirits. Mandy, mother of three small children, trains for her labour as she would for a marathon - she's having twins. With help from her birth mother and her adopted mother, Angela gets ready to become a mother herself.

Tracy is a labour and delivery nurse, now pregnant herself. She's afraid she knows too much to give birth without stressing out. Angela goes into labour surrounded by her husband, her birth mother and the mother who raised her. Her baby is born with the ubilical cord around his neck.

Cassie and Trevor have been together for four years - since Cassie was 16 - and now they're having a baby. "Her spunk and my patience make a good combination," Trevor says. Tracy arrived home from an all-night shift as a labour nurse, only to go into labour herself. "It's a whole different thing, being in the bed," she observes, as her colleagues work around her during her labour.

Donna is the mother of two, the step mom of two more and she's now considering having a home birth. She consults with a midwife and a birthing hypno-therapist, but is having trouble deciding on her plan.