Call The Midwife star Helen George defends C-section birth: 'It’s a major operation'
CALL the Midwife star Helen George has defiantly defended her decision to have a C-section birth after suffering complications during her pregnancy. The 33-year-old actress, whose daughter Wren was born in September, admitted many would not understand her choice.
BBC
But Helen, who plays troubled nurse Trixie Franklin in the BBC drama, told the Radio Times: “Working on Call the Midwife means that lots of people tell you their horror stories about birth.
“I’m not against natural birth, I’m pro whatever you feel is right for you.
“Some people may not understand why I elected to have a C-section, but it was right for me at the time.
“It’s not because I’m ‘too posh to push’, it’s about what I think my body is capable of.
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“Not that a C-section is the easy way out. It’s a major operation. I have a large scar on my stomach.
“You can’t exercise for a long time and you need help to pick up the baby.”
Little Wren arrived three weeks early and the popular star uploaded a photo to her own Instagram page saying: “When your baby turns up early for her own baby shower, welcome to the world little one. What an amazing day.”
But Miss George revealed how she suffered from complications during her pregnancy and was diagnosed with a liver condition called ICP, which can cause stillborn births.
INSTAGRAM
It’s not because I’m ‘too posh to push’, it’s about what I think my body is capable of.
She said: “I was rubbing my back against the stair carpet to scratch myself. Even my eyes were itching.
“It runs in my family which is fortunate because I knew that I should go and get a blood test straight away.
“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.”
Helen, who is in a relationship with co-star Jack Ashton, told how the show’s writers could not build her pregnancy into the script because it “wasn’t a correct storyline to choose for the character”.
BBC
Radio Times [RADIO TIMES]
The actress had to take a “few episodes off” during filming because she was “too big”.
She revealed: “I did the Christmas special and the first four episodes [of the new series, which starts on Sunday], but after that I was too big.
“I was always carrying things or sitting behind a high desk to conceal my bump. My face and boobs were getting bigger and bigger, it was ridiculous.
“That’s why they dressed me up as the pantomime cow in the Christmas show.”
The popular show returns to BBC One on Sunday at 8pm.
TV bosses have released new photographs of the show’s stars ahead of the seventh series.
Read the full interview with Helen George in the Radio Times magazine, out today.
