A muscle-mad macho man struggles to keep his nerves in check, an expectant dad goes all out to make his wife feel comfortable in the birthing room and a same-sex couple are rushed into hospital 10 weeks early. Marion and Rachel are like any other couple in their early thirties trying to start a family, although as Rachel says, 'we can't just have an early night and make a baby,' so they shopped online for sperm. Using Marion's eggs they based their decision on which donor had the most similar attributes to Rachel and they ended up with twins. But at their 30-week hospital scan the couple are told that one of the twins is not growing properly and they need to return to Southmeads the next day for a C-section. Image-conscious Sarah and her husband, personal trainer Rob, arrive at the delivery suite to begin the induction process. Sarah's told she's only allowed one birthing partner and chooses her husband over her mum: a move she begins to regret as Rob shows signs of impatience. They pass the time by discussing baby names but have very different ideas. Sarah reaches a compromise: if the baby comes before midnight, Rob gets to choose but any time after it's her decision. Meanwhile, attentive husband Ollie and his wife Kate arrive at hospital and Ollie's armed with blankets, rugs and all the essentials to make sure Kate is as comfortable as possible. Kate wants to have a hypnobirth and Ollie is on hand to ensure everything runs to plan.

The first episode of the fifth series introduces the straight-talking midwifery team in Bristol as an expectant father risks missing his daughter's birth and one of the team helps her next-door neighbour through an emotional labour. Michelle and Michael's parents are from different countries: hers are Chinese, his British. 'I was actually asked if I was a Thai bride when we were on our honeymoon!' says Michelle.

First time mum Lucy admits she's afraid of everything from roller coasters to sewing needles, so the thought of giving birth is completely terrifying. She says she's just little and wonders how on earth the baby is going come out. Doting boyfriend Sam has his proposal to Lucy all planned out and the rings are en route from eBay. But despite all the distractions, panic soon sets in. Amy and her naval engineer husband Paul arrive at Southmead Hospital for an induction. But after a quick examination, it becomes clear that Paul is far more squeamish than he expected... Meanwhile, Dianne is understandably concerned about giving birth as the last time she was in labour there were serious complications. This time Dianne and husband John have opted for an elective Caesarian, but nerves begin to get the better of them.

Sarah's expecting twins. She and her mum Pat are both midwives and have to overcome their professional concerns to concentrate on the babies' safe arrival.

Tracy is 37 years old and is in labour with her fourth child. Accompanied by her husband Steve - who is in a jovial mood - and her middle son Liam, who’s 18, Tracy is calm and upbeat about her labour until the heart rate of her baby slows and the midwife needs to deliver her baby quickly. Suddenly the humour of the situation is gone, Tracy is exhausted and a much more serious Steve becomes the labour coach as the midwife races to get the baby out. As the staff cope with an increasingly busy shift, 22-year-old Lisa is also in labour, with her first child. Despite the calm words of the midwife, Lisa’s nervousness quickly turns to fear when she learns the baby must be delivered by caesarean section. As she is taken into theatre to give birth, Lisa and her partner are told that once their baby is born it will be taken immediately to an incubator. The first few days of its life are going to be critical.

In this episode a farmer finds his baby's birth a far cry from lambing season, a former midwife must take a back seat in the birth room and a laid-back dad nearly misses his daughter's birth.

A young couple from Liverpool refuse to let a tough start hold them back, parents with four boys eagerly await the arrival of their dream girl, and a mum who didn't think she could conceive naturally prepares for her first

This episode meets a mum who donated her eggs but went on to have fertility problems herself, a couple whose exciting whirlwind romance resulted in an unexpected pregnancy, and the mum who's finally having her miracle baby after she was told she could never have any children.

In the first episode of the sixth series, fourth generation twins make an appearance on the delivery suite at Southmead Hospital in Bristol, a larger-than-life double act struggle to see the funny side of their extended labour, and an expectant father holds his breath hoping for a boy. Mel is an identical twin. Her father is also a twin, as was her grandmother, so it's incredibly rare that Mel herself would be pregnant with twins, but that's exactly what has happened. When Mel's waters break unexpectedly she has to choose whether her husband or her identical twin sister will be her birthing partner. Larger-than-life Su felt she'd hit the jackpot when she met younger man Dan, and they arrive at Southmead in high spirits. Their baby is in breech so they've been booked for a caesarean, but those plans are thrown out the window when baby decides to move, meaning that the couple are able to have a natural delivery. Finally, the race is on for Katy and Rob to make it to the delivery suite before their second child arrives, and Rob is praying this one's a boy.

he hospital corridors at Southmead turn blue as one young mum lets out all of her pent-up frustrations, on-off romancers finally take the plunge after 10 years of indecision, and pregnancy cravings

It took 30-year-old Louise and her husband Andy six years to conceive. After such a long struggle, they're finally looking forward to meeting their longed-for baby and showing it off to their worried stepmum and health care assistant Olwen. Sammy, who's 23, is about to have her third baby. An undiagnosed condition drove a wedge between Sammy and her mum, when her bad behaviour was put down to teenage hormones, until a long-awaited diagnosis of endometriosis when she was 19 enabled them to build bridges.

Musicians Lucy and James are putting rehearsals on hold to have a baby. Laura and Mike fell in love in hospital when Laura was dangerously ill. They're expecting their second son.

Louise is having her first child at 45, but has gone through a heart-breaking split with her baby's father, Dan. Meanwhile, Jess is 16 and is finally getting a sibling.

Emma and James lost a combined 11 stone so they could start a family. Erika and Jez are on baby number two, after the struggle to conceive number one became an exhausting regime.

The hospital faces a bed block crisis and Kristina's twins need delivering fast or she'll have to move to another hospital. Amy and Dave are expecting their first child together.

When Jody, who's 29, and Chris, who's 32, arrive at Liverpool Women's Hospital, she'll be giving birth for the first time. It's a day that they thought would never come: after a struggle with infertility, they'd given up hope of having a child themselves and adopted a son. But one last try at IVF had surprising results. Meanwhile, Mormons Cameron, who's 23, and Hannah, who's 21, met through the church and married young. Their faith has taught them the importance of family, and they can't wait to become parents. They just need to get through labour first. And Lesley, who's 41, was desperate to become a mum but couldn't find a man who wanted to be a dad. Not letting that stand in her way, she turned to a sperm donor, and is now eagerly expecting her first child, who she plans to raise alone.

There's tension as a teenage mum asks her dad and boyfriend to both be present at the birth; a vicar's wife seeks divine intervention; and a young couple hope for a simpler labour second time around. When 18-year-old Charlie fell pregnant, her dad, Dean, wasn't pleased. Stern words followed for her boyfriend Ricky, who's also 18, and who was made to promise he would stand by her. Ricky is determined to prove he can be a good dad, but as the moment of baby's birth draws closer the atmosphere in the delivery room becomes tense... Meanwhile, vicar Adam's wife Sheona, who's 33, has reservations about becoming a mother for the second time, but with the help of Adam's support and humour, and the promise of a bottle of good Champagne afterwards, she hopes to find an inner strength. Chloe and Adam, who are both 20, are followed to Southmead Hospital by their neighbour's cat but the distraction of this additional birthing partner does little to put their minds at ease. They're both troubled by thoughts of the birth of their first daughter, who was rushed off to intensive care as soon as she was born, and as the night draws on exhaustion begins to get the better of Chloe.

On her birthday, midwife and single mother-of-two Lara contemplates life and love while delivering twins.

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Sam is in labour with her first child and is finding the pain too much to bear. Her boyfriend Ed, mum and the midwife team are doing everything they can to make her more comfortable, but she becomes increasingly upset. Ed is feeling the pressure too: he knows he has some real responsibilities to face once the baby is born and is worried about their finances. When the doctor decides that Sam needs a Caesarean, Ed’s nerves get the better of him and, although he wants to be with Sam in theatre, he decides her mum will be of more help. Another mum-to-be, Joy, is bored as she waits to go into labour. A diabetic, she has been induced but has been in hospital for four days and it’s a slow process. She’s hungry, tired and sick of waiting, and her frustration is heightened when her lunch doesn’t arrive on time. The idea of a piece of chocolate cheers her up although her husband Fabio would prefer she had a banana. Conversation turns to their garden, which distracts Joy for a bit, but she is soon feeling frustrated again and starts to wonder whether motherhood really is for her. ‘I love my independence’, she says. Meanwhile, Sister Kay Duggan - one of the midwives - is pondering her career after learning that she delivered Ed many years earlier. ‘There are many moments of pure joy in midwifery and many moments of absolute stress… I find work is the most important part of my life’.

Lisa’s baby Jack has been born with his bowel outside his body. The first few days of his life are critical as he faces serious medical procedures. Lisa is forced to cope with waiting weeks before she can take him home, and confesses to feeling jealous of the nurses who are feeding him before she can even hold him. Meanwhile, Sarah is expecting her second child. Midwife Dominique does everything she can to make sure she can have the natural birth she always wanted. Sarah’s first labour was very difficult and she had to have a caesarean. But as she finally goes into labour and the hours start to drag by, Sarah and dad Darren begin to worry that it will be the same as last time, and Darren feels impotent, thinking that no-one’s listening to him and there’s no point in him being there. And 25-year-old Andreia comes in to the hospital for a water birth, with the cameras catching her baby’s breathtaking entrance to the world

Kelly comes in to have her fifth baby, while Joy is waiting to have her first. Babies have always come easily for Kelly: her last one was delivered three minutes after her waters broke. Joy, on the other hand, has had to undergo five years of IVF, and after days of waiting in hospital, there’s still no sign of Baby. Joy and her husband Fabio have been together for 20 years since they met at language college, where they were both studying English. Fabio says: “We have achieved a lot in these last 20 years together, but once you have material things they don’t really mean much to you any more. Without family it loses its meaning.” But, although Joy’s having contractions, she is dilating very slowly, and it doesn’t look like her waters are ready to break naturally. And although Joy wants to have a natural birth, it looks like she’ll eventually have to decide whether to have a caesarean. At least the long wait gives them a chance to try and agree on names for their long-awaited baby… Meanwhile, Kelly has brought her husband Jon, her mum Liz and her sister Lisa into the birthing room with her. Kelly and Lisa’s brother died recently, and Lisa says: “Because the pregnancy was a wonderful distraction it became a focus for the whole family, and probably helped us to work through our emotions.” Midwife Lorraine, who’s new to the hospital, where she’s yet to deliver a baby, is looking after Kelly, who certainly knows what she wants: gas and air, and plenty of it…

In this episode, two young mums-to-be come in to the hospital at the end of unexpected pregnancies. And for their mothers it’s time to let go of their daughters. Abbie and Ross are both 17 and have been together for three years. Abbie says: “We were careful, but things happen, and things happen for a reason.” Her mum Donna, an ambulance technician, has delivered 15 babies, but that can’t prepare her for the emotional wrench of her baby having a baby. As Donna says: “She’s not my little girl any more. She’s going to be somebody’s mummy.” Twenty-three-year-old self-confessed free spirit Leoni had only been with her baby’s father for a short time when she fell pregnant. She only wanted to be a mother if she could be there for her child. With the support of her family, she decided to go through with the pregnancy. But Leoni is eight days overdue and her pregnancy isn’t progressing. And the hospital staff are worried about the baby’s heartbeat before Leoni’s even in labour.

In this episode, two mothers are about to give birth to their first babies while two fathers are trying to work out their role in the birthing process. For Shelagh’s baby son it is a dramatic start with an ambulance journey to the hospital and a quick turn around caesarean when his heart rate dips during labour. The birth is very poignant for Richard as Shelagh is having another man’s baby, having fallen pregnant during a break in their relationship. It’s not what he had planned for their relationship but he is determined to be the best dad he can be after a career in the army meant he was not always around for his own children. Penny is also excited about her new arrival but when labour starts her husband Ben finds it difficult to see her in so much pain. They have deliberately avoided finding out the sex of the baby and a special moment ensues when the baby arrives. Meanwhile, the midwives on the night shift are reminiscing over the extraordinary and wonderful births they have been part of over the years.

Observe the remarkable and often uplifting situations that occur every day in the neonatal unit with stories of babies who need extra care.