If you were already a tiny weeny bit grossed out by the intense rigmarole of a labour, then last night’s episode of From Here to Maternity will certainly have pushed any baby making ideas straight out of your head. We joined the staff and patients of Cork’s University Maternity Hospital for an unprecedented look into the worlds of the emotionally charged women who come through their unwavering doors every day.
In this six part series, apart from the heart-warming stories and strong women who pass through the hospital, the real stars of the show are the doctors and nurses who work around the clock to provide for these innocent babies. As one of the nurses proclaimed on the show, there’s no waiting list for giving birth. When it happens it happens and all hands have to be available to muck in and help out. Sadly, cuts to the staff were shown last night and after watching this show for the last few weeks, it seems like it’s been the same nurse working every week. It’s the harsh but frustrating reality of the tiresome yet highly rewarding lives the neonatal nurses lead.
Brave Katherine McCarthy found out that she was going to be inviting three boys into her life, early on in her pregnancy. This week the worried mother of three was told that the best thing for the doctors to do would be to deliver all three of them before any of them got any sicker in the womb. The risks of staying in were far greater than the risks that would face them if they were born prematurely. At only 30 weeks pregnant (a normal pregnancy last 40 weeks) Katherine and her husband Kian were obviously beyond worried. Not long after, Katherine made her way to the delivery ward, to the sound of some very eerie music. If the music wasn’t enough to make her think that she was going to be executed, an army of doctors and nurses were there ready and waiting in their green scrubs for their patient. All the incubators were at the ready and three nurses were assigned to each baby, named baby one, two and three for the time being.
A fearless Katherine, awake the whole time, watched as a miniature baby one (Ben), a purple baby two (Charlie) and a slightly healthier looking baby three (Oliver) came into the world. Immediately the triplets were rushed away to intensive care where they were greeted by a very confused looking Kian. For babies who should have had another ten weeks inside their mammy’s belly, they looked impressively healthy and rearing to get out of their intensive enclosures. While the babies were being well monitored by the nurses and Kian, Katherine was on top of the world and who would blame her after just giving birth to three boys. Although, Kian may have needed some medical help when he heard his wife’s confession that she was already thinking of the next baby.
Catherine Kingston, who is a midwife at the hospital, was back this week. She just couldn’t get enough of the place. Well she was actually back for her check up coming up to her final week and a half of pregnancy. While she admitted that she would love to go into labour naturally, important factors such as her age and her blood pressure had to be taken into consideration. For Catherine, the thought of her colleagues examining her didn't daunt her in the slightest. I don’t know many people who would say that.
Finally on last night’s emotional rollercoaster we dropped in with baby Callum from last week. He was transferred from Cork to Dublin for an emergency hernia operation. His mother Sarah still had no idea when she would be allowed to take him home. It was heartbreaking seeing such a tiny human hooked up to wires oblivious to it all.
It’s about time these amazing nurses got the recognition they deserve and I can’t wait to tune in next week to see how the triplets got on.
Sarah Carty
