Birth Stories

Tracy is a comfortably middle-class fitness instructor who hopes that, this time, with a Cesarean birth, she will avoid the trauma of her previous delivery. Cheryl is a recovering crack addict and stripper who is trying to change her life for her unborn child. But can she?

Cheryl tries to make her welfare cheque stretch. As Tracy gets ready for her C-section, her stockbroker husband, Mike, conducts business from the hospital prep room. Eight months pregnant, Nature copes with the stress of moving back in with her mom. Sue, recently separated from her partner in Boston, comes to Toronto to have her baby with the spiritual and moral support of her aunt, Anne.

We meet Cindy and Jack who run the Cameron House, a hip, downtown Toronto bar. They happily await the birth of their first child who will have to fit into their noisy, alternative lifestyle. Nature gives birth to a girl after a short labour and returns to school anxious to catch up. Sue has a psychic vision predicting the date she'll give birth and summons her ex, Tyler, from Boston.

After more than 27 hours in labour, Sue gets an emergency C-section. Diagnosed with early menopause, Lynn is now expecting a child. She and her partner, Edward, are delighted at this unexpected development. A victim of abuse, Cheryl reflects on her own lost childhood and says a prayer for her unborn baby.

Circumcision of their sons, is an emotionally-charged issue for Lynn and Edward and Sue and Tyler. Cindy has a Cesarean and gives birth to a healthy boy. Cheryl, the ex-stripper and drug addict, gets darker and more desperate as her due-date draws near.

Lynn goes to the hospital to give birth and ends up having a Cesarean. Maya is a harried mother of two who is expecting twins. Nature struggles to catch up with her college classes, baby in tow. She begins to show signs of post-partum depression. Cheryl gives birth, and cries over fears she can't keep her baby.

Sumi is a glamorous Korean businesswoman who never wanted a baby, but, ready or not, she's about to have one. In a dramatic sequence, Maya gives birth to her twins and worries about the health of the smaller one. Sue tries to recover from the trauma of her Cesarean with the help of a healer; and her ex, Tyler, comes for another visit. Nature moves out of her mom's into a new place.

Sumi, who's never liked babies, gears up to stop working and start breast-feeding. Maya and the one-week-old twins are back in the hospital when one gets meningitis. Lynn and Edward struggle to make room for their son in their tiny house. Nature gets ready to go out dancing for the first time since the birth of her daughter.

Julia, a dancer, gives a performance just weeks before her due-date. Cindy and Jack head out to do gigs with their band with one-month-old Jackson in tow. Heather and her four kids prepare the newest addition to the family. Sumi's labor has ended in a Cesarean section, and she seems numb and traumatized by the whole experience. Will this baby she hadn't planned on win her over?

Shirley and her husband Mike visit the cemetery where their first child, who was still-born, is buried. Now, Shirley is eight months pregnant again, and coping with a number of health complications and heartache. Meanwhile, Heather's blood pressure isn't improving and her dream of an "at home water birth" surrounded by her other four children is shattered.

Sue takes three-month-old James to Boston to visit his father, Tyler. After hours of labor at home, Julia and her midwives go to the hospital where she has a natural birth. Shirley takes her dog to obedience school to ensure that the beloved pet copes when the new baby comes. Heather goes into labor in hospital, not at home where she'd hoped to deliver.

Sue still can't decide whether she and Tyler should reunite and raise James together. Sumi and Mike celebrate their son's 100th day with a party, as is the Korean custom. Julia and Garret get into a new rhythm with their new daughter. Shirley, whose first child died during delivery, faces down her fears and gives birth to a healthy baby girl.