One Born Every Minute

This week on One Born Every Minute it’s all about family. From building a big family, as one couple are expecting their fifth baby and wanting more - to a shrinking family, as an expectant mum deals with the loss of her father, to the emotional rollercoaster of a man who was adopted watching his first son being born. Mum of four Louisa (32) and David (38) have known each other for nearly twenty years – they met in the youth club when Louisa was 13. They’re expecting their fifth baby boy. Louisa jokes, “As they say, you’ve got to be a man to produce a girl.” which they both find hilarious. “I think we always knew I’d be a breeding machine,” Louisa adds, “I love the hustle and bustle of a family home.” Although it’s Louisa’s fifth delivery, the midwives explain, it doesn’t necessarily get easier the more babies you have – as Louisa is discovering. David says, “There is a time and a place to keep your mouth shut and when your other half is trying to push out a baby…that is the time to keep your mouth shut.” David thinks they should stick at five children but Louisa is not sure. “I think you should have even numbers, so that means six!”. Expecting their first are a young, financially strapped couple. Colin (21) says they have always been “quite down with money” and that he never thought they’d have the cash to raise a child. Suzanne (20) and Colin were ‘sofa-surfing’ when they found out she was pregnant, but have now found somewhere to live. To transport their belongings, and a growing Suzanne, Colin found a bicycle with a trailer on ebay. Now they travel with Colin pedalling the bike, towing a heavily pregnant Suzanne. “It’s technically called a luggage trailer,” says Colin, before adding, “well, you are luggage – sort of.” Becoming a dad has prompted Colin to reflect on the fact that he was adopted. Although he knows who his birth mother is, he hasn’t yet met her and as the birth draws near, can’t imagine putting his own son up for adoption. Another couple, Rosie (27) and Johnny (34) are also expecting their first baby. Rosie says she doesn’t know what she’ll be like in labour but is hoping that “mind over matter” will help her cope with the pain. She would like a waterbirth and is packing her swimsuit, “just in case”. They haven’t decided on a name for their baby yet; Rosie likes fairies and is pushing for Bluebell as a middle name – Johnny counters that he likes Beer, but isn’t suggesting this as a name for the baby. Johnny is Rosie’s “rock” and helped her through the loss of her father, and while Rosie is sanguine about the loss – “one life begins and another one ends” - she’s upset that her baby will never meet her maternal grandfather and is missing her dad terribly.