My guilty pleasure..

Has got to be One Born Every Minute. I love it. Maybe I shouldn't but I do. There I said it. It makes me feel so many different emotions. Joy, sadness, hope, intrigue, admiration, fear. Particularly the last one. The fear of God.

I love that it gives the midwives a chance to have their say. Every week I think how passionate they are about their careers, and how much they care for their ladies, from the 35 year old Mum having her fifth child, to the nervous 16 year olds reluctantly having their first. They never judge, and they give everyone the same high standard of care. Totally admire what they do, it must be a difficult role. Difficult but at the same time so rewarding. I think if I was to feel even half as passionate about my career choice in the future as they do, I'd truly have felt like I'd succeeded.

Have to say I love the midwife banter too, with their giant cups of tea and various cakes/biscuits/chocolate.. Seems like my kind of place to work! They're so chilled, and seem to have such a good bond as a team, which must be important in their line of work.

Another aspect I love are the Dads. Like socks, they seem to come in all different shapes and sizes. Big ones, small ones, non-existent ones. Some of them are cool as cucumbers, some of them are blubbering wrecks. My favourites though have to be the ones who are barely there (vocally I mean) all the way through the birth.. Then they see the baby and BAM..quivering weeping child. It's so cute. When I do have a little cry at One Born, these are usually the bits that send me off!

I don't much care for the screaming, agony, swearing, painful bits, but it is quite funny to see how all the different ladies deal with it. And also pretty scary at the same time. But my absolute favourite bit has to be once the babies are born, and the mums and dads are talking about the future. "I can't wait to cut her hair," "One day I'll teach him how to play rugby," but my favourite one is "This is your world, and you can do anything you want." What wise words to say to a baby. It's often this bit that makes me really emotional, everyone is so full of hope and love.

It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I find even with all the shit on TV nowadays, there are very few other programs that evoke such emotion and feeling as One Born Every Minute. So get snuggled up on the sofa, with a cuppa and some Kleenex and prepare for the most emotional hour of your work.