I haven't seen the episodes but from experience (not personal experience but a relative) yes some hospitals do have rooms with chairs, a double bed and a cooled crib where the parents can stay with the child for a few days and family members can visit too.

I had a stillbirth 17 years ago I gave birth in a private room on the maternity dept, it had a bed settee and an on suite bathroom and you got your own key so you could lock for privacy I haven't seen any of the episodes yet but this bit sounds very realistic from what I experienced.

Also, in regard to the crib, my little boy was brought to me in a wicker basket crib, there was no hospital equipment in the room, except for the a url birth itself, it's designed to be as easy an experience as it can be. I can't really say anything else until I've watched it but by the looks of it Shabnam and Kush had an experience similar to mine.

Similar to what the others have said, at my hospital we have a special bereavement room with a couple of big sofas, a TV, ensuite shower etc. Even then, our normal labour rooms still have reclining armchairs in (but admittedly no pretty bed linen).

Delivery pack would be kept in the cupboard and wouldn't be opened till as far on as possible, as obviously everything in it is sterile. No point opening it early otherwise you'll just have to open another one. Gloves are in the cupboard again. Don't use gowns, only normal plastic aprons. Should be kept somewhere on the wall.

There would be absolutely NO fetal heart equipment anywhere near that room and if there was, you would be bollocked for it by the senior midwife. It's portable so no reason for it to be in the room.

As for entonox....she might not have wanted it. I've done a couple of induced IUDs and the women haven't even had time to get to the needing entonox stage as the babies have delivered very quickly. Even then, she might have had pethidine or diamorphine or something, you don't know. At my hospital entonox is kept in portable cylinders outside the rooms so if she asked for it someone could have just wheeled it in for her. I agree there should have been hand gel, they probably thought people wouldn't notice.

I can't comment on the duvet thing as I didn't watch the episode but it might have been very quick and she was caught out. Ultimately it doesn't matter if she's on the duvet or not as it's going to go in the laundry anyway.

We use a moses basket for IUDs but I think some hospitals might use cribs. Am not entirely sure though.

Oh my god, your poor gran. How horrible.

My delivery suite was great! I felt like I was staying in a hotel. Not joking. Fancy curtains and sofa. The entire reception and corridors were lovely, as were the rooms with the mood lighting and the midwives . Felt so looked after!

I had a miscarriage in the seventies when I was only 17. I was nearly 6 months pregnant so I had to go through labour just like Shabnam. It was horrendous.

Nowadays parents can hold the baby and take photos. There is counselling and support afterwards.

I got none of that. My baby was hurriedly removed and I never even saw him. I was on my own and too young and gormless to ask.

I was also put on to a post natal ward full of new mothers and their babies. They all held their babies and fed and changed them while I sat there pretending to read a magazine.

No doctor or nurse really talked to me about it. I was discharged whist sore, very emotional and with milk coming in that gave me hard, sore boobs and no advice about how to make it dry up.

A total nightmare and I still think about my lost baby to this day and wonder what he might have become.

I don't really know what to say that will sound sincere. What you went through sounds horrific, I can't even begin to imagine what that was like for you. I'm so sorry

I really can't think of the right words to say about this... I'm so sorry it happened to you, it must have been unimaginably awful.

That's appalling swan girl, disgusting that medical professionals could be so insensitive at what must have been such a distressing and sad time for your grandmother

Thank you srhgts and Louise. It was indeed awful.

I'm pleased to say I went on to have two healthy boys who've grown into decent hard working fellas.

I just sometimes think about the lost baby still and acknowledge the fact I've had three sons not two.

How terribly sad.

Bless you cuza

I thought the episode was well acted and very sad. I think though it would have been better for Kush to have been the only one in the room with her, as opposed to her dad being there when she was in labour.

The only unrealistic thing I can think of is the way the poor baby looked in the blanket. It didn't look like a baby in a blanket, and they could easily have made that better by a life like doll.
It would have definitely added to the drama had they shown just a glimpse of skin, or the top of the head etc. Difficult to watch, but it would have definitely added to the emotion of the episode.

I don't agree that it would have added to the emotion. Not for me, anyway. I don't think I could have found it any more emotional than I already did. I could already picture the poor little thing in my mind - sometimes that's more than enough and that was the case for me this time.

I agree. Maybe I'm being old fashioned and prudish or maybe my dad was a Victorian dad, but dear God, the thought of giving birth with my dad by my side!

No no no!

Oh and thank you Dormouse

It's hard to imagine who would have felt the most awkward and embarrassed...........me or my Dad!

How utterly insensitive are you? We aren't talking about swishy live birth experiences, but stillbirths and miscarriages.

From my experience, I miscarried and was put in a room with pregnant women. Every check up I had consequently (there were many complications) I was seen and treated at the Early Pregnancy Unit = full of excitable pregnant women. This was last year.

Dont forget this is a still birth we are talking about .I think sadness would overcome embarrassment for most dads in that situation .

I think so too. I don't think it was unrealistic at all in the circumstances.

As with the entire episode i thought it was done very sensitively with much attention to detail. Massod being there was again sensitively done, She wanted the comfort of her Dad being there so he stood to the side of the room and appeared when he did look to look at Shabanham's face. It was heart breaking. When I watched it I initially thought why is standing there but I can now see he was being respectful of her privacy.
Sorry OP but for such a sensitively handled story line to start banging on about hand gel's and bed linen is absurd, who cares? This was about a woman giving birth to her stillborn son, I was too busy watching the amazing performance of the actors to worry about any of that.

My deepest sympathies go out to the people on this thread who have been through such a traumatic and tragic experience and have been brave enough to post about it.

These episodes have certainly been some of the finest that EE has done in a very long time.

Very powerful stuff indeed.

I respect all the people on here for sharing their experiences, thank you. I had an ectopic pregnancy and my experience in a "world class" central London hospital was appalling all the way through. It was only when my social worker arrived and witnessed my treatment that I was asked if I wanted to make a complaint. Before that I was literally told to "shut up" by a male nurse in those actual words. First of all I was told to make my own way to hospital and then left on a trolley for eight hours and was very neglected despite my condition being life threatening and I later had to have emergency surgery. When I was in recovery I was put in the specialist women's wing and had to share facilities with women feeding their new borns etc. I'll never forget it.
I think Shabnam's story was tremendously well acted and well written. The actress playing Shabnam was amazing. My sister had a still born baby and there are no words for what she and the family went through. My friend also had a still born and was so ill afterwards that she was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Again I really respect everyone on the thread who have shared their traumatic experiences.

Well said.

I think most NHS hospitals will have private rooms for births, especially in these circumstances. They knew, more than 24 hours that she would be coming in so could clear space.

No, we didn't see the nitty gritty, but did we need to?

I thought i would add my experiences to this.

With my youngest, at a 13 weeks scan i was told he had a 30% survival rate; and that if he survived he had a 98% of having a severe chromosomal or heart defect. I was in the maternity clinic when I found out, so they took me straight out and put me into a 'quiet' room which is like a mini living room with pictures on the wall. There was a leaflet regarding having a still born baby and that it was a separate room and away from delivery suite. The pics were almost the same as Shabnams room. Pretty bedding, sofas etc.

Before my kids, I suffered a miscarriage. I failed to miscarry properly so I had to have medical intervention. I was put with ladies who were having terminations and they all knew I was having a miscarriage. It was really awkward for me and them and I was treated insensitively.

My grandma lost a full term baby in the 1960's, she never held him. My granddad never saw him, and she was in a normal delivery suite and in a baby ward afterwards. The NHS has made major improvements in the past few decades x