Birth Stories

Kirsten is determined to have her third baby naturally, without painkillers. But, the baby isn't in the best position for delivery. Shea has a photogenic belly - documenting her pregnancy with a frothy photo shoot in the bubble bath. Four years ago, Melissa survived a car accident that left her with a severe brain injury. Now pregnant with her second, she's determined to cope.

Melissa who lives with a brain injury worries about coping with the arrival of her second child. A caseworker visits to help structure her days. Lisa and Gerry are expecting their first baby. He's an ex-junkie and an ex-con who lost all contact with his two young daughters. Now he's looking for a second chance with Lisa. Shea, amazed at the difference an epidural makes, delivers a baby girl.

Vanessa is about to graduate from Chiropractic College, marry her fiancé and have a baby. When she finds out the baby's in a breech position it puts a crimp in her plans for a natural home birth. Lisa and Gerry celebrate his birthday and the new start they're making together. Melissa, who lives with the consequences of a serious car accident, gives birth to a boy.

At eight months pregnant, Vanessa takes charge at her wedding rehearsal to make sure the ceremony goes smoothly. Once the celebration is over, she focuses her attention on turning her baby around from a breech position. Gerry coaches Lisa through a painful labor. Destinia, a devout Muslim originally from Indonesia, seeks information on giving birth in Canada.

Vanessa heads into a C-section reluctantly when the baby turned out to be in a breech position. Lucy's home delivery of her third child progresses so fast, the baby is born before the second required midwife arrives. An early test revealed a chromosonal abnormality in Destinia's baby, but all subsequent tests have come back negative. As the birth approaches, she and her husband are hopeful.

Lisa's contractor husband Sean hopes to get the new addition built before she gives birth but Lisa's water breaks long before these major renovations are complete. As Destinia's labor progresses she remains calm, focused and drug-free. Her husband, Yuki utters prayers in her ear moments after birth. Kerri is eight months pregnant and determined to keep up with her tap classes and auditions.

Tara and Kurt take turns caring for their son. It's a grueling schedule that's wearing Tara down, now that she's expecting their second child. Theater couple Kerri and Shaun are hoping their second child will be a girl - until an ultrasound reveals otherwise. Lisa and her husband Sean are so sure their first baby will be a boy that when a girl arrives, they're shocked.

At the army base where Jerry and Danielle both work, the personnel throw them a festive baby shower. Shaun auditions for a part and promises to be available for callbacks the following week - even if Kerri gives birth before then. After a long labor, Tara gives birth to a girl while Kurt verges on collapse, exhausted from working night shifts and the stress of Tara's labor.

Bethany is 18 and has an uncertain relationship with her baby's father. Getting pregnant was an obstacle course for Danielle and Jerry. He had to reverse a vasectomy and she had painful endometriosis. Now, Danielle is finally just weeks away from her due date. An hour in the Jacuzzi relieves Kerri's extreme labor pains. Then suddenly her labor is so advanced it's too late for an epidural.

Crystal was told that a sexually transmitted disease had left her infertile. Now, she's pregnant, and has a reason to stop drinking, doing drugs and living on the street. Danielle gives birth to Trinity, a baby girl. At 18, Bethany is single but has the full support of her family. She and her parents discuss her impending delivery and her brother accompanies her to doctor's appointments.

Stephanie, a cheerleading coach and mother of two, is expecting her third child. With friends from the native community there in the delivery room to offer the support of ritual smudging and drumming, Crystal delivers a baby boy. Jackie goes into the early stages of labor and Peter tells her about his experience as a cameraman at other births.

Bethany goes into labor with the support of family and friends, but without knowing whether the father of her child will show up. Crystal was in her late teens before she discovered her Native background. Jackie and Peter used to think they didn't want kids. Now they're expecting their first child. Peter is a cameraman who realized he did want to have a child after shooting for Birth Stories!

After their first pregnancy ended in tragedy Patricia and Steve's baby is due in six weeks. Birgit has two teenaged daughters from her first marriage. Now she and her new partner, Charles, are having a baby together. As Natasha's labor intensifies, she revises this birth plan and opts for an epidural, but before there's time for it to take effect, her labor goes into full force.

Church secretary and choir leader Marissa and her husband Jeff the youth pastor, lead the musical Saturday night services. Everything is going smoothly for Patricia and Steve in their second pregnancy but their experience of having stillborn twins remains vivid. After enjoying the Jacuzzi and a little dancing with Charles in the early stages of labor, Birgit gives birth to her third daughter.

Stephanie, a single go-go dancer, has lost the mobility she's used to and enjoys a massage in her 8th month of pregnancy. Marissa, actively involved in an evangelical congregation, is just weeks away from delivery and not slowing down on any fronts. Patricia and Steve are finally able to welcome their newborn son; their 3-year journey included fertility drugs and the birth of stillborn twins.

Stephanie is single and lives at home with her mom while waiting for a spot in public housing. For a little pre-birth pampering, she goes to the salon. Teresa's type two diabetes makes her pregnancy high risk. Her husband, Griff, the co-host of a popular radio show, talks about the pregnancy on-air. Marissa's labor progresses rapidly and she exhorts her family to pray for her.

Because of Teresa's type two diabetes, her blood sugar levels and her blood pressure are both a concern during this pregnancy. Stephanie jettisons her plan for a natural birth when the baby turns out to be in the posterior position. Joy and Randy's baby will be born with a rare and serious defect. As the pregnancy reaches full term, they try to prepare for the birth.

As the arrival of their baby nears, Joy and Randy wrestle with the uncertainty of having a newborn with a severe birth defect. Single mom Heather and her partner Chico were just "friendly lovers" when she found out she was pregnant. Teresa delivers a baby girl by C-section. Because of her diabetes, the baby is born with low blood sugar and needs a boost of glucose right away.

Joy's doctor tries to calm her nerves as she heads into the C-section. She and Randy have been worrying about their baby's severe birth defect for months. Sixteen-year-old Jessica is pregnant and having a baby with her young boyfriend Bobby. Heather has a history of health problems, so Chico finishes getting the apartment ready while she tries to get some to bed-rest.

Born with internal organs outside her stomach wall, Madison is transferred to the children's hospital for major surgery as parents Joy and Randy look forward to the day they'll be able to bring her home. Tension mounts as 16-year-old Jessica and her boyfriend Bobby shop for baby things. Heather's labor progresses quickly and very soon after the epidural is administered.

"Never again!" says Jessica who thought labor was going to be quick and easy. But once her son is born she quickly decides the pain was worth it. Helen, 37, delivers twins by C-section. Kathleen's first-born is a healthy little girl, but her second died of a kidney failure hours after birth. As her due date approaches, the death of her newborn begins to weigh heavily on her mind.

Michelle, 21 and her sister, Rosie, 33 are very close and both pregnant with their first child. Kathleen gets a lucky break when a co-op apartment becomes available. The only catch is that she'll have to move right after she gives birth. Linda and Kelly are Wiccans and celebrate Linda's third trimester with a candlelight ritual. Michelle goes into labor a month early in her thirty-sixth week.

Kathleen's C-section takes place one year after her newborn died hours after birth of kidney failure. Linda and Kelly borrow a birthing pool in hopes of having a water birth at home. But 12 hours after her water breaks and labor still hasn't started, Linda resigns herself to a hospital birth. Rosie plans to give birth at home, but the size of her baby may change those plans.

Wendy is an opera singer and her husband Chris is her favorite accompanist. She looks forward to her due date anxiously. She and Chris have already dealt with cervical cancer and a stillbirth. Linda's labor finally gets underway in hospital, not at home in a birthing pool as she'd hoped. Rosie goes to the hospital as her high blood pressure makes a home-birth too risky.