‘Call The Midwife’ star Helen George has revealed she chose to give birth via a caesarean section after the horror stories she learned about while filming the BBC show.
The 33-year-old, who welcomed her daughter Wren with her partner Jack Ashton four months ago, said it’s not because she’s “too posh to push”.
“I chose to have a C-section; it coincided with the fact that I had to deliver her early but, even without that, I would have gone for an elective caesarean because of what I’d learnt on ‘Call the Midwife’,” she told Radio Times.
“Working on ‘Call the Midwife’ means that lots of people tell you their horror stories about birth.”
George added that she wasn’t against natural birth, and thinks mothers’ decisions should be based on what is right for that person at that time.
“It’s not because I’m ‘too posh to push’,” she added. “It’s about what I think my body is capable of. I’m not good with pain. I faint when I stub my toe. Not that a c-section is the easy way out. It’s a major operation.”
The new mum explained she had to act out performing a caesarean section on the show in 2016, and decided then that if she fell pregnant, that would be the option she would choose.
She said there needs to be a “national conversation” about how c-sections don’t just have to be for emergenices.
George’s daughter was delivered early because the actress suffered from intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), a liver condition that can be life-threatening for an unborn baby.
Speaking on Instagram about her decision to be a patron of the ICP Support charity, George wrote: “When I was diagnosed with ICP I was confident that the hospital looking after me knew how to look after me and my unborn baby because they conduct research into the condition.
“But I realise that not all women will receive the same kind of care that I did because not all hospitals know as much about it as mine do.
“That’s why I want to help ICP Support raise awareness of ICP and ensure that women have access to the charity’s in-depth knowledge of the condition as well as the great support that they provide.”