Call The Midwife’s Helen George on choosing to have a Caesarean

CALL The Midwife actress Helen George chose to have a Caesarean after playing nurse Trixie Franklin on the hit BBC show.

The ex Strictly star gave birth to daughter Wren three weeks early in September. She had a liver condition in which bile builds up in the new mum’s blood, possibly leading to the baby being stillborn.

‘I chose to have a C-section. It coincided with the fact I had to deliver early, but even without that, I would have gone for an elective Caesarean because of what I’d learned on Call The Midwife,’ George said.

‘Working on Midwife means that lots of people tell you their horror stories about birth,’ she said. ‘I’m not against natural birth, I’m pro whatever you feel is right for you.’

Her character carried out a C-section in the 2016 Christmas special. ‘I did lots of research and decided if I ever got pregnant myself, that’s what I would do,’ she said.

The 33-year-old, who is in a relationship with her co-star Jack Ashton, who plays Rev Tom Hereward, hopes to remove the stigma of non-natural birth. She says she was not ‘too posh to push’, but ‘I’m not good with pain — I faint when I stub my toe.’ She urges those thinking of a C-section to talk to their doctor or midwife.

George asked staff at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS trust in London to document the delivery. ‘I was fascinated by the scientific, medical side of it so I have loads of pictures,’ she tells this week’s Radio Times. Her pregnancy meant she is absent for a few episodes of the seventh series, which starts on Sunday at 8pm on BBC One.

Author: Tom Stichbury