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Did Bridget Jones have a positive birth?

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Last night I went to see “Bridget Jones’ Baby” and I literally cried with laughter all the way through. I even found the birthy bit funny and actually saw some real benefits to the portrayal of birth within the film. I could bang on about the really negative reflections of birth that I saw and how damaging they can be to women and their birth experiences but I chose to see the positive instead.

It’s a real bug bear of mine to have to watch women in labour on the telly or in films and see what should be the most empowering moment of our lives shown in such a damaging light. We have OBEM inflicted on us every year and then every soap, boxset or film I watch, showing a women in labour, makes me eye roll, shake my head and tut.

So it came as surprise, just how funny and positive I found this film.

Ok, so there were times when Bridget was lying on her back and she did bite down on (one of) her partner’s hands causing him to bleed…

…and yes, she also did some suspect purple pushing…

…and there was some derogatory comments from the Obstetrician…

But other than that- she rocked it (or rather the film producers could have portrayed the birth in a much more negative light).

If this was a real birth I would be wanting to high five Bridget and tell her how incredible she is. No drugs, no intervention, all natural vaginal birth.

During her pregnancy, she and her birth partners attended antenatal classes and learnt massage techniques and how to breathe (the breathing Bridget ended up doing during labour was more likely to cause her to hyperventilate than actually help but still…). Seeing as a ridiculously low number of women don’t even attend the FREE antenatal classes that are available from the NHS and by private companies, it was nice to see that Bridget, and her 2 birth companions attended the classes, enjoyed them and learnt a thing or two as well.

In my classes I suggest to the Birth Companion that he/she does WHATEVER is needed by the birthing mother and that they need to be aware that their mind-set will have a massive impact on how Mum feels and responds in labour. So it was good to see Mr Darcy doing whatever he HAD to do to support Bridget which at one point involved carrying her through the streets of London to the hospital because she didn’t want to walk. It was also lovely to see their connection with one another during labour- that is something else I emphasise in my classes. Feeling connected, close and supported  by your partner really helps with the release and flow of the hormones which you need to feel as good as possible in labour and of course to keep your labour progressing.

We didn’t see the baby actually being born (and the birth companions weren’t there for that bit- which was disappointing…something about their favourite pub being burnt down???) but when we get to meet the baby, the empowering glow on Bridget’s face is awesome (you can’t help but smile too) and baby has a nice coat of vernix on it – high 5 to the researchers!!

Of course, there are many ways that this film could have improved upon its portrayal of birth but there were definitely some positives.

Whether you want a Bridget Jones style birth, something much more Zen or perhaps something more organised (!) come along to one of my FREE Hypnobirthing Taster sessions to find out how (oh and definitely check out the film!).