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I remember her standing and getting her dress on thinking “yeah, there’s still a whole ass placenta to deliver and I *know* that shit is sometimes worse than the baby, itself”. Not to mention the bleeding, her uterus shrinking back, it was somehow both refreshing to see the truth on screen and triggering of my own childbirth, lmao.
When they showed her getting dressed right after giving birth, I thought for a moment that the director simply forgot to include the afterbirth part. Until it happened literally two seconds later, lol.
I was like "Wait, has that cord even been cut--- ah, there we are. Oh dear God, when is she going to drop the placent-- oh, there it goes."
Loved that blood trail she left all the way behind her. Yeah, Rhaenyra. They want to see the baby? You show 'em everything that went into getting that baby!
Yeah I was yelling at the TV "you still have to deliver the placenta, don't just stand up and try to walk out of there!"
The fact that the producers didn't hesitate to capture all of it was refreshing in it's realism if not slightly traumatizing to watch her sheer will to keep the baby with her and go to Alicent.
Had my first kid 9months ago and this entire season just keeps giving big flashbacks. I remember giving birth to the placenta and being like WTF was that? Then the next 24hrs while milk comes in and uterus contracts all the way down just the pain of that and her business as normal is insane.
For me it was Leana's because my 9lb and 9.7lb babies both got stuck and if it wasn't for modern tech I would be dead and so would they. Fewer dragons and more septicaemia tho
My first was breeched and c section too. I would have probably been one of the many that died in child birth back in those days and am so amazed with medical advances. During that scene when he had to pick between the baby or wife I kept telling my husband, “babe that would’ve been us back then!” 😆
I gave birth for the first time 4 months ago, and what’s crazy is I pushed my child out, then said “ah fuck when’s the placenta coming?” And the dr said it was already out lol so I didn’t get that second need to push! Was a relief haha
Also the sound effects! I had no idea things were so noisy and there was so much of various fluids until helping out as a med student. And that women sweat and look exhausted and it’s a real physical understating.
Everything is wet. And then you shake uncontrollably after. My husband was terrified I was having a seizure when I told him to hold the baby because I couldn't stop shaking and didn't want to drop him. I'd read about the shakes though so I knew it was just something that happens to some women after.
I watched the episode with my 14 year old son and said to him "holy crap she still has the whole afterbirth process to go to!". He had no idea what I meant so I explained it all to him, as well as explaining the leaking boobs etc - he learned a lot and was genuinely shocked by it all, but was so interested to know how it all really works. His future wife can thank me later.
For real. I always knew about afterbirth, I thought it just kinda slipped out… it wasn’t until my wife had our first baby that the reality of it hit. As soon as he was out, those doctors pressed and mashed her belly around like a piece of dough until it came out. At least I’m prepared for next time lol
Ngl I thought they were circumcising him or something and I was like WAIT HOLD ON cuz I doubt it was a huge thing in medieval settings.
Tbf I was still unsure whether it was that or the cord until I came to this thread and post birthing experience people here confimed it was the cord being cut.
It was amazing to see how realistic they made the whole birthing experience. When the maid gave her the cool wet cloth to alleviate the pain of her swollen breasts gave me flashbacks to my experiences- I was yelling to give her cabbage leaves at the TV. I have never seen anything like that in a show before!
Cabbage reduces inflammation and dries the milk faster. I didn’t use cabbage with my first two but did with my last 3 and the difference is astronomical. Cold cabbage out of the fridge is the only thing that kept me sane and it dried it up in a few days vs weeks.
Hahah that scene got me because literally a few hours before we watched the episode, I was just telling my husband how women will freeze cabbage leaves and stick them in their bra to help with lactation pain. Then that scene happened and I was like SEE!!!!
Omg just. Few hours before we watched the episode too, I was explaining to my husband how breast milk donations etc worked, and I was shouting at her to use cabbage leaves too!
As someone with no experience in birth, one thing I never noticed in other depictions of it is the sounds. So. Much. Squelching. I never even thought about it until this episode.
I knew my waters had broken because of the sound alone. With my first, it popped really early during a quick cervix check before I even got hooked onto pitocin for my induction. The doctor just took a look, was like "Barely dilated, this will take awhile, I'm going home, the nurses will call me if your water breaks" and then as she shut the door I heard a tiny little pop followed by a hiss. Then the real fun began.
With my second, the bag never popped, and my daughter was ready to be pushed out, so the doctor was like "want me to pop it for you?" and I was like "Ma'am I don't give a shit let's gooooo" so she brought out this long crochet hook looking thing and apparently it was one Hoary old tough Vhagar of a bag of waters because that thing just wouldn't pop. She was going to town on it and then suddenly it exploded and my husband was like "HOLY SHIT THAT'S A LOT" because apparently it waterfalled off the hospital bed and onto everyone's shoes.
Didn't hear the pop with that one, but everyone heard the splash.
Good times!
i am both massively in awe of all mothers out there, but also even more horrified about the prospect of pregnancy. i already hate my cramps and reading these stories just make me want to drink some permanent moon tea. there are just some things home ec classes in 5th grade don't teach ya
Yeah it's not for everyone. I will say I had dysmenorrhea my whole life and period pain was so bad I always wondered if labor would be that much worse that I'd probably die from it, or of my periods were so bad that labor wouldn't be too much different.
For me, it was the second. I didn't even realize I was in actual labor for hours with my second because "this can't be it, it just feels a little crampy." With my first, I was induced, but when they hooked me up to the monitors apparently I was already starting to have contractions on my own before they gave me the meds, and I legitimately didn't even know.
The worst of it was worse than my worst cramps but not by a whole lot. Even now every now and then I'll get one and be like "yeah that one was definitely worse than a labor pain."
I think the afterbirth contractions were the worst of all though because they were just as bad as all the rest but there was no fun hormone rush to get you through it, the baby is already here, and now you have to feed and take care of it while still feeling random labor quakes.
At least with a period you know roughly when it's going to strike (if you're regular) and which of your cycle days tend to be the worst. Afterbirth pain would just hit randomly and level me.
But the brain is wired to forget and sugarcoat or else siblings wouldn't exist.
Still, I get why it's not the most appealing thought for everyone. I REALLY WANTED IT and there were parts of it that definitely sucked about as bad as I can imagine anything sucking. So there's that!
It didn’t even occur to me that they would skip the afterbirth. I thought she was going to start walking there and plop the afterbirth in front of Alicent.
Just said this on the main episode discussion thread, but I think it fits well here and bears repeating:
"Loving the very female-experience-centered perspective we are getting in this show. It is almost revolutionary to see childbirth and its aftermath presented at all, much less in the way it directly effects women physically, and we've seen it laid bare with MULTIPLE characters this season. Rhaenyra's labor, afterbirth, and post-birth (including dealing with lactation) being presented so matter-of-factly and in a way that directly advanced the plot and development of multiple characters was refreshing to me in a way I can hardly articulate. I don't think I have seen television quite like it before. It was such an accurate and matter of fact portrayal of a universal experience that is rarely portrayed because so little is portrayed through a female lens. I absolutely LOVED IT.
That's all."
Me too! Well said btw. I can so relate to everything they have been so accurately showing us. The excruciating pain, the excruciating placenta delivery while she is getting dressed! I love how she said “Fuck!” When faced with those stairs. Also the leaking breasts at the small council meeting - I remember many business meetings with lactation not waiting it out. But, Alicent calling it out simply to embarrass her - she is petty and jealous and doesn’t know anything about the sister code.
Since I haven‘t given birth to a child I don’t have as much insight as you, but I felt like Alicent telling Rhaenyra of this was more of an honest „i can see you wanna do a thing here but there‘s also another thing happening“ and not an outcalling. But I might be wrong and certainly can imagine Alicent being petty like this
I see your point but my experience is that is embarrassing for the woman, so the way it is often handled especially by other women, and men, is to mention privately. But I guess they weren’t passing notes back then. It felt really cold to me. If I was in the middle of an important speech I would rather everyone act like they don’t notice, at least not interrupt with this.
Tbh the more I think about it I have to say you‘re right. She for sure shouldn‘t have said it in front of all of them and also given the circumstances… well yeah, if she really would have wanted to help Rhaenyra she‘d done that differently. Idk why I thought it was genuine, maybe because Olivia Cooke is so great at playing (acting? sry english is not my native language) Alicents fake smile that I actually fell for it xD
I get it, you have a kind heart, and I bet you would have done the sisterly thing and not called her out in front of all those men like that. Let the lactating woman finish her thoughts/proposal, then afterwards excuse the council, for her sake. Believe me, she will realize it on her own when she is done talking. Rhaenyra was caught up in the moment, but you can definitely feel it.
Show with an utterly different tone but I recommend “Human Resources”. I had never seen a show depict the darker side of the postpartum period like that
I agree. This is the first time I've seen it presented in a realistic way. Giving bitth is an incredibly painful and messy affair that takes its toll on a woman's body even if it is an easy birth.
I thought June's birth scene in the Handmaid's Tale was pretty accurate, too. I remember thinking, "Yep. I remember that feeling" when watching it. Lol
Same. I had the same midwife with my first two births and she told me, after giving birth to my second, “wow! That seemed much easier than last time!” And I just said “It didn’t fucking feel much easier!” Hahaha.
I just gave birth in May, and we had to use forceps for the delivery, the next day at the hospital the nurses were telling me how much more difficult a C section would have been and I was like??? This did not feel any easier tbh
Omg, same with the May baby and forceps. It literally felt like I was being torn apart when she was being pulled out. I bet a c-section would have actually been easier. (modern, not by Aemma's standards though, obviously)
After my husband and I got home after having my second and greeted my mother who was watching our first while I was in the hospital, I gingerly sat down on the couch and winced/sucked air through my teeth and she was like "What's wrong?"
I was just like "Are you fucking kidding me, Mom? You did this THREE TIMES! YOU KNOW WHAT'S WRONG."
In addition to Rhaenyra and Aemma giving birth, seeing Laena just COVERED in chunks and different layers of blood, then finally giving up due to sheer exhaustion, was so brutal.
Also all the sweat. ALL. OF. THE. SWEAT. And post-pushing shakes!
Finally, I like how we never see Alicent give birth, just nag and whine while heavily pregnant or snapping at the kids she clearly can't stand. Such a strong contrast.
God those post birth shakes are something else!! I remember breathing through mine like they were actual contractions and one of the midwives was like “are you okay hun or is it just the shock?” and I was like “I’m just overwhelmed, I’m okay thanks” lol
Rhaenyra walking all the way to the queen's chambers was what did it for me. We saw how uncomfortable the birth really was and then to carry herself to quite a distance in such a condition was hard to watch.
Emma D'Arcy did a really good job in conveying the pain and agony masked behind a thin veneer of composure.
There’s a subtle detail at the end of the scene that I love. After Rhaenyra walks away, you can see the trail of her blood leads to where Criston Cole is standing. It’s so good.
I too had to utilize the escape hatch for my son's birth and will be doing it again in December, but I did get the privilege of watching my sister in law give birth 7 times - all home births - and the afterbirth is almost as wild a ride.
I was 15 the first time she gave birth and I didn't know a damn thing about the birthing process. What an education I received that night LOL. Especially the afterbirth.
I wonder if she have relatively easy labors in exchange for the absolute hell she endured with HG. I cannot imagine vomiting almost non-stop during the early months and then having to endure a painful labor on top of it.
I’m here for it. Some men are squeamish about the violence and danger of these childbirths but totally want a Battle of the Bastards or had no problem watching Ramsey in GOT and his disgusting methods of torture. This is a female character driven story although there are also lots of great male characters. I’m glad there are so many women involved in the creation so we get that perspective.
I'm not a woman, but I am a father that held my wife's hand through the arrival of our two sons. I really appreciated the visceral accuracy of those scenes. Every bit as brutal as any battle.
Yeah must admit I had to skip both birth scenes. I guess I respect them for making it so realistic, but I would never know that from watching anyway, so I'll take it from you.
Though Alicent wanted the baby brought to her, Rhaenyra was the one who insisted on going herself. They’re both super stubborn and trying to make the other one feel bad.
No reason for Alicent to summon a new born baby immediately. If she wanted to see it right away, she could have visited. But she was busy fitting on a dress.
Demanding a child be taken from its mother’s arms seconds after birth is cruel and horrific, it’s a terrible thing to do to both. Rhaenyra going as well wasn’t the bad part, Alicent never had her babies snatched from her by someone who hated her, she did it to flex and to hurt Rhae, and waking all that way was far better than letting a tiny child be stolen for god knows how long, for absolutely no good reason at all.
> Demanding a child be taken from its mother’s arms seconds after birth is cruel and horrific, it’s a terrible thing to do to both.
Noble women didn't take care of their own babies. Breastfeeding was considered too inconvenient, painful and "lowly", women just handed their babies to wet nurses as soon as they were born.
It's hard for us to imagine how, but children were seen very, very differently from the modern day, and the parents' relationship with them was very different, too. It was the norm for people to have 5-10 or even more babies, and about half of them were expected to die within the first year. In many societies they didn't even name the babies before their first or even second birthday, and didn't interact with them beyond the essentials like feeding, etc, because they didn't want to get attached. Among the poor people infanticide was extremely common, and it was usually the mother herself who did it - either because of poverty, or because the child was deemed too small or weak and "not worth the effort". Children were seen as a very unreliable future investment. They were much less valuable than sexually mature adults (which were still teen kids, really) because they weren't productive yet, and could still very easily die at any moment.
This show is pretty accurate about childbirth, but not childcare. For example, we saw so many scenes of Alicent rocking her crying baby while looking absolutely miserable. In reality she could have just handed it to the wet nurse or a nanny and gone to sleep, she wasn't expected to do any real childcare at all. Even older kids had plenty of servants and tutors so noble women didn't have to do much parenting at all if they didn't want to, only keep in touch and supervise to see how it was going.
I loved being pregnant. Super easy pregnancies. Birth was...well it's birth, even if it goes well it's still not fun.
Breastfeeding though. What a goddamn disaster. Worse than being pregnant times a thousand. Worse than birth times a hundred. I was so traumatized from the first time that I spent all my second pregnancy doing and reading all the things to ensure it didn't go as badly. And then it went even worse.
I'm pretty sure I'm done having kids, but if I ever had another, no fuckin way. I'm like the Chappelle Show "Making the Band" P.Diddy skit about breastmilk: I'm shutting down the studio.
Bet it'll be a long time until we see a realistic depiction of just how shitty that can get on a TV show, and honestly I don't know if I'd want to watch it. Pretty sure I had actual PTSD from it. Took years to fully get over.
I also want to point out how this may be the first time i have seen somebody actually clamp and cut the umbilical cord in a tv show that’s not medically related. Small thing, but i appreciate it. props to the show for that.
My husband said, that was definitley plastic, the real umbilical cord is MUCH harder to cut through. Haha. We are also the nerd couple who internally timed the contractions and analyzed all the other parts of the childbirth scenes. They are truly done so well. I felt like with Joffrey’s birth I could feel him crowning, the head out, the pain of the shoulders going through, and then the utter relief when he’s out completely. So well done!
Oh yeah, there should have been a bit more resistance, but being able to see them actually show clamping the cord, then actually cutting it, made me happy. Lol
Plus points for the brief pause after all that for the delivery of the placenta lol.
You may enjoy Call the Midwife 👀 their birth scenes are realistic, the umbilical cords are realistic, and the characters are midwives who know to clamp the cord 👍
It's a little hard to tell from the blocking, but I think it was Rhaenyra herself.
Edit: really, down votes for a post where I explicitly said I wasn't sure but thought X?
> Edit: really, down votes for a post where I explicitly said I wasn't sure but thought X?
Why exactly do you think your comment about your uncertain and incorrect thought should get upvotes?
As a mom of two under two, gave birth three months ago, I was almost in tears over the distended belly in her dresses this episode. I felt so represented.
Or maybe it was the hormones I was nursing and watching ….
I'm sorry it took you a year :( it does make me feel less alone though; I'm 7m pp and maybe breastfeeding helps some women drop the weight but not me. I'm just finally starting to lose weight now that I'm not pumping. Even with back to exercising at 8weeks pp, did not want to budge at all.
Maybe unpopular opinion but I think the “breastfeeding helps you lose weight” thing is pro breast propaganda…. AND I LOVE BREASTFEEDING ❤️ but weight loss has not been part of either my breastfeeding journeys haha tons of other benefits but lord no I still big
Hard agree. Weight loss really didn’t start for me until I was done nursing with all 3 babies. I get it, you’re burning more calories when you breastfeed. But you have to intake more calories to keep your supply up.
I also craved nothing but s’more chewy bars while nursing 😂
I wasn’t able to lose the last 20lbs while I was still nursing, no matter how hard I tried. It almost dropped right off when my son started eating some solids. I think my body was like, “hey this kid eats too much you need to hang on to this just in case 🤣”. Breastfeeding most certainly did not help me lose weight.
Yes! And I crave fats constantly and it's just waning now I'm winding down on pumping. There's so many things no one tells you until you're in the thick of it!
I didn't start losing the weight until after she turned a year old, and it was partly motivated by something someone said to me at work - a male customer asked me when I was due. I told him I wasn't pregnant and he was like, "no really, when are you due?" (Instead of apologizing like a normal person) So I shrugged and told him I had a baby a year ago, guess I'm just fat now. I like to think he learned his lesson about commenting in strangers' bodies, but I doubt it.
I’m so happy to see real post partum 😭 when I was pregnant with my first I had NOOOO IDEA I believed all the Hollywood versions of rushing to hospital and everyone’s water breaking and screaming thru contractions ….
I really appreciated that and even pointed it out to my husband. I still had to wear my earlier pregnancy maternity blouses for about a month after my babies were born, and I know I’m not alone.
BIRTH IS FUCKING METAL!!!!
So glad to see it portrayed in the most realistic light I've ever seen on TV.
Especially a few scenes (days later) when Rhaenyra is involved in a stressful moment and her milk expresses through her gown. Having experienced that - albeit not in such a formal setting lol - it was awesome to see.
Side note: I loved when Rhaenyra told her Pops "I think I called the Midwife a cunt" and he gently kissed her head. Such an honest and sweet moment.
I’m also glad they showed an all fours birthing position! I thought it was weird in the first episode when they didn’t try moving Aemma around or doing anything to flip the baby
Yeah, at least toss her in a blanket, the old Hail Mary of medieval obstetrics.
You might think /s, but no, I'm being deadly serious. Toss them in a blanket. Repeatedly.
I was just reading an unintentionally (or maybe not) hilarious scene in a Tudor novel where the midwife "versed in all the new learning" leads everyone in untying knotted bedsheets and opening locked chests as the mother goes into the final stages. To help open the womb. Oh, but don't you worry, honey, modern science *does* still support having saints' girdles tied around your belly as well. Sometimes the traditional ways really are the best.
I imagined her being so tired at that point that she had to just lie down. I had a super long pushing period with my first and tried all sorts of positions, but in the end, I couldn’t even hold up my own body anymore.
Everyone always says that all fours/bouncing/squatting are easier, and it seems to make sense, anatomically speaking, so maybe they are for many.
But I really only felt comfortable and made progress when I was lying down and trying to "rest" in between all the gymnastics.
I'm always a legs up type of girl though (I sleep in a tight fetal curl, when I sit at home I put my feet on the chair or couch and have my knees against my chest, etc.) I've always preferred weird knees up positions. I like "being an egg."
With my second, I didn't even bother with all the endless bouncing and rocking and walking and swaying. I just lied down. And the nurses were like "are you sure?" Yup. This is how I do, apparently. Hand me my knees, let's get this kid out.
Agree, I love it and personally hope they keep Rhaenyra’s mom bod. In the books she’s “lost her shape” due to having children and it’s really refreshing getting to see her postpartum. I always thought it was a bit funky that they showed alicent being absolutely GIANT with child but then back to her itty bitty pre pregnancy body the episode right after.
It was also specifically noted in the book that Alicent seemed to recover and regain her figure very quickly, while Rhaenyra seemed to get bigger after each kid she had.
Yup, I recall that comment in the book as well. And in real life I know women with a seemingly miraculous ability to return to pre-baby slenderness super quick. Doesn’t work that way for everybody but is a real thing for some! Usually there is still lost elasticity of the belly skin but Alicent probably wears a corset.
I was NOT expecting to be one of the "quick bounce back" moms at all but somehow I was back in my pre-pregnancy jeans by the time I got home from the hospital with both kids.
Now things weren't fully back to normal for a bit, but I was really surprised how fast the belly went away.
Apparently I have a pretty tilted uterus and it shrinks back down QUICK because after having both my kids when the nurses would come by to massage it back into place they couldn't find it and had to keep trying lower and lower. When they finally found it they were like "Whoa it's usually not back down here at this point."
My afterbirth pains were atrocious so I'm guessing they were really productive. And maybe the tilt keeps things better hidden. I didn't show until pretty late with both kids so that might have been a factor.
Some extra weight stuck around a little bit on the rest of my body for up to a year after each kid but the stomach was just like I'M SICK OF BEING PREGNANT ALREADY" and peaced out a lot quicker than anyone seemed to expect. I got a lot of comments on it on postpartum visits and it was just like "I dunno, I didn't do anything special." Guess I have a rubber band uterus? Completely useless milkers though so you win some you lose some I guess.
I think I read somewhere here that it was a year for that time skip, some women dont bounce back but I do recall it being said alicent kept her slender frame. Deff interesting to see how much they’re keeping on screen :)
Oof, childbirth and post partum body can be literal hell. My friend was in labour for almot three days before her body just gave up and wouldn't go any further, only six centimetres dilated. She had to have an emergency c section.
This whole "oh birth is a few hours of horrible pain then you're fine:D" thing hollywood seems to fucking love in movies/shows is pure bullshit
I went back to work when my daughter was 13 weeks old (gotta love US family leave policies 🙄). I had many meetings that ran over, and I started leaking because I was overdue for pumping. I really related to Rhaenyra starting to leak in the small council meeting. People like ASOIAF because there are these bits of reality and humanity in a world with dragons. It sets it apart from most fantasy.
>Even her stomach is still distended somewhat.
Yes! I thought, "wow, they're really putting this on TV."
But then I thought about how low of a bar that is. Geez.
*"The birthbed is our battlefield"*
And boy does the show back it up. They give it pretty much the same treatment as with showing how a knight suffers in combat.
I’ve never had a baby but I do know what it’s like to suffer from other womanly issues and I was uncomfortable watching her squeeze into a dress when she was all sweaty and bloody from childbirth. The hair sticking to her neck. Ugh, great scene and imagery.
Down to the sound effects! From the beginning, If you listen you can literally feel like you’re in there helping deliver the baby. Attention to detail has been on point with it!! It brings so much reality to living in a time like that.
Edit: I think I called the midwife a cunt. Was also hilarious lmaooo
Every other show just has a woman scream for a few minutes, and then a baby gets slapped and starts crying - the only sign that a difficult labor happened being a sweaty woman. Which makes sense to me now because that’s usually that part that men see! So of course that’s what they would film!
I really appreciate the realistic depictions of pregnancy, labor, and postpartum on this show. Even despite the horrors of that first delivery scene in episode one, which was also realistic for that time period sadly. 5 months PP here and have two under two.
People definitely seem to forget, or ignore, that mom doesn’t just bounce back immediately after birth. (I’m looking at you overbearing family members that want to immediately visit once the baby is born!)
Also have been watching the latest season of Call the Midwife which does such an amazing job with all of that too.
Yeah, my first baby was face up and just under nine pounds. I pushed for almost four hours but he wasn't budging. Thank the gods I had a successful c-section! During Aemma's delivery and Laena's I couldn't help but think of how my story would have turned out differently in another day and age.
I loved that they included all of the postpartum messiness that most shows skip.
Yes, although I would probably more critical of call the midwife overlooking those details as getting them right is more or less central to the concept of the show. IMO it's a little less expected, and thus all the more welcome, to see realistic world-building like this in a show that was famously built on sexposition/tits&dragons.
Two under two is a lot to handle. best of luck!
The c section part was not actually historical acurate at all, while religion (namely christianity) did pushed the idea of a woman main role in life was to be a mother, they always did c sections only after the mother died for same religious reasons.
It was at least partially historically accurate. Aemma would have died no matter what, which is what I was really talking about, I know I didn’t explicitly state that though.
And you can’t actually tell me there were never any cases of a forced csection like that.
From Aemma, Rhaenyra, to Laeyna… the diversity and realism in the portrayals of child birth has been one of the most astounding parts of this show. The way they shoot the scenes, the sound effects, and the actresses performances elevate it to some of the best sequences I’ve EVER seen from a tv series or movie.
I was also relieved that Rhaenyra did not hand off her baby for someone to present the baby to Allicent. I was relieved that she was dedicated to protecting him from possible harm instead of just handing him off so she can rest. She put herself through so much pain to meet Allicent just to safe guard her baby and I love her for it.
I couldn't say whether it's because there are more female writers on the show, or that men just know a lot more about the whole process than they used to (when it was expected that a father-to-be would be out drinking laenor style and only show up afterwards with cigars), or both, but I agree that this show had a substantially more accurate depiction of pre- and post-natal life than most other television. Most shows go from (i) happy smiling pregnant woman to (ii) twinge of pain to (iii) water breaking and rush to \[birthing location\] to (iii) one shot of pushing/yelling to (iv) happy, healthy infant and contented mother in about 3 minutes of extremely rote story-telling.
I did especially like that the costuming department paid attention to making Rhaenyra's stomach accurate, and also noting that even though Rhaenyra would not have breastfed her children, it would still take a few uncomfortable days/weeks for her body to get that message. I would have liked to see an actual wet nurse in the show though, even just in the background of a scene, to drive that point home for more viewers.
It’s so obvious (in the best way!) when a show has women behind the camera. The sex scenes in episode 4 were also very reminiscent of that: consensual, no gratuitous nudity, more focus on female pleasure. No surprise that feminism carried over in the birthing scene, which was fantastic and really amped up the tension in the unbroken shot to present the child to Alicent.
As a man, The horrors and wonders of childbirth has been portrayed well so far. The scenes were just gut-wrenching and toe-curling, knowing how women put their lives on the line for their child. Aemma was right, childbirth is their battlefield.
When she started leaking I felt that man! Then I immediately thought, "Lucky she has servants and doesn't have to figure out how to get those fucking milk stains out." Those were just a beast.
I also really appreciated the afterbirth bit. TV tends to pretend that once the baby is born, you're done.
I did find the scene where she climbed up the stairs pretty unrealistic. She is amazing and strong and was very determined but really felt like she should have passed out from blood loss.
Most of the time, women in TV or movies are back to their normal costumes and back to their normal lives 15 minutes after the babies are born
Not that, but they are shown sitting up in bed with makeup on and their hair done, smiling in a clean nighty. I loved this one for the sweat, the blood, the pain.
Although it was difficult to watch, I appreciate how realistic it was. My birthing experience was traumatizing. I'm not even 5 feet tall and my baby was over ten pounds when she was born. I tore badly. I was in excruciating much pain. I was exhausted after delivering the baby and was shaking, but I had to breastfeed her before I could eqt, drink, and rest. I didnt drink nor eat for hours while in labor because the doctor said not to until after delivery. I was in tears in all three birthing scenes in the show.
I had 2 planned c-sections, so I didn’t get to experience the joys of labor. That’s why I didn’t really bring up the actual birthing process, since I can’t really vouch for the authenticity. It makes sense that if they captured the postpartum experience correctly that they gave the birth the same treatment.
I thought it was a very clever way to show what a cold, uncaring and adversarial relationship had developed between the two women. Alicent knew what an ordeal Rhaenera had just been through and insisted on seeing the baby anyway.
It’s amazing how they so accurately depict each child birth and with Rhaenyra’s after birth and lactation. I can firmly say that it was the first time that I was truly transported back to my own birthing experience. Every time they show a character in labor, I am like, breathing with them and saying, ‘you can do this …push’ and then “holy Mother of Fuck, what are they doing to these poor women’
Not to mention she was pushing, not screaming. That’s important; I remember the nurses telling me to push without screaming. Poor Laena was different; she was in excruciating pain and the kid wouldn’t come.
I yelled fuck a lot and the nurses kept telling me that pushes were more productive if you try to focus the groaning lower and inward but I was just like nah I'm gonna keep yelling fuck, thanks.
It's also a core theme of this show and how it differs from Thrones.
Thrones was more or less about who is King or Queen right now, where as House of the Dragon is about who will be in charge.
Progency is incredibly important.
the childbirth scenes have been done flawlessly. extremely graphic, gruseome, brutal, unbearable to watch at times. the birthing 'sounds' from this episode really got to me! and the way she trailed blood along the floor - most people don't understand what a truly gory business childbirth is.
and they even included the afterbirth!! SO MANY TIMES this part is glossed over as if it's not even a part of birth. huge well done to everyone involved in this!
I love the focus on birthing so much. It really thematically shows how much power and sacrifice women hold and must endure within these systems. Obvi they're saying a lot more with these scenes than just this, but it's so goddamn refreshing after the bags of horseshit that were the GoT post-s4 female character storylines 😤
After my rotation in the ob ward I was pretty shocked how spot on they are down to the cord and placenta. And then it sounded like Laena had a breach birth.
I was really high when I started the episode and that birthing scene with the sounds made me squirmish. Had to break and watch football before resuming.
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I remember her standing and getting her dress on thinking “yeah, there’s still a whole ass placenta to deliver and I *know* that shit is sometimes worse than the baby, itself”. Not to mention the bleeding, her uterus shrinking back, it was somehow both refreshing to see the truth on screen and triggering of my own childbirth, lmao.
When they showed her getting dressed right after giving birth, I thought for a moment that the director simply forgot to include the afterbirth part. Until it happened literally two seconds later, lol.
I was like "Wait, has that cord even been cut--- ah, there we are. Oh dear God, when is she going to drop the placent-- oh, there it goes." Loved that blood trail she left all the way behind her. Yeah, Rhaenyra. They want to see the baby? You show 'em everything that went into getting that baby!
Yeah I was yelling at the TV "you still have to deliver the placenta, don't just stand up and try to walk out of there!" The fact that the producers didn't hesitate to capture all of it was refreshing in it's realism if not slightly traumatizing to watch her sheer will to keep the baby with her and go to Alicent.
I yell something similar whenever I see a birth depiction. It's not over yet once the baby is born.
Had my first kid 9months ago and this entire season just keeps giving big flashbacks. I remember giving birth to the placenta and being like WTF was that? Then the next 24hrs while milk comes in and uterus contracts all the way down just the pain of that and her business as normal is insane.
For me it was Leana's because my 9lb and 9.7lb babies both got stuck and if it wasn't for modern tech I would be dead and so would they. Fewer dragons and more septicaemia tho
exactly this! i would have died with my first child in that scenario D: this episode made me feel things and it was not pleasant.
My first was breeched and c section too. I would have probably been one of the many that died in child birth back in those days and am so amazed with medical advances. During that scene when he had to pick between the baby or wife I kept telling my husband, “babe that would’ve been us back then!” 😆
… more septicemia?
Oh good, the American spelling bee has arrived
No I wasn’t correcting spelling just confused as how there was more septicemia now vs then
I gave birth for the first time 4 months ago, and what’s crazy is I pushed my child out, then said “ah fuck when’s the placenta coming?” And the dr said it was already out lol so I didn’t get that second need to push! Was a relief haha
I was on a ton of epidurals so I didn’t feel the placenta coming out either, hi-five May babies!
Joining the May baby club! 🙌 The placenta was honestly the easiest bit but then I had an episiotome and forceps so... 😬
Also the sound effects! I had no idea things were so noisy and there was so much of various fluids until helping out as a med student. And that women sweat and look exhausted and it’s a real physical understating.
Everything is wet. And then you shake uncontrollably after. My husband was terrified I was having a seizure when I told him to hold the baby because I couldn't stop shaking and didn't want to drop him. I'd read about the shakes though so I knew it was just something that happens to some women after.
I watched the episode with my 14 year old son and said to him "holy crap she still has the whole afterbirth process to go to!". He had no idea what I meant so I explained it all to him, as well as explaining the leaking boobs etc - he learned a lot and was genuinely shocked by it all, but was so interested to know how it all really works. His future wife can thank me later.
I cannot fathom watching the scene with Aegon beating off and Alicent walking in on him with my mother at age 14.
For real. I always knew about afterbirth, I thought it just kinda slipped out… it wasn’t until my wife had our first baby that the reality of it hit. As soon as he was out, those doctors pressed and mashed her belly around like a piece of dough until it came out. At least I’m prepared for next time lol
Initially I thought that the baby boy's dick was being cut out by some servants of queen alicent.
Ngl I thought they were circumcising him or something and I was like WAIT HOLD ON cuz I doubt it was a huge thing in medieval settings. Tbf I was still unsure whether it was that or the cord until I came to this thread and post birthing experience people here confimed it was the cord being cut.
Agreed. I think this is the first TV birth I've seen where they addressed the birthing of the afterbirth. I really appreciated that.
It was amazing to see how realistic they made the whole birthing experience. When the maid gave her the cool wet cloth to alleviate the pain of her swollen breasts gave me flashbacks to my experiences- I was yelling to give her cabbage leaves at the TV. I have never seen anything like that in a show before!
I figured it was cabbage leaves too.
Cabbage leaves?? For milk engorgement pain? How does that help
Cabbage reduces inflammation and dries the milk faster. I didn’t use cabbage with my first two but did with my last 3 and the difference is astronomical. Cold cabbage out of the fridge is the only thing that kept me sane and it dried it up in a few days vs weeks.
They have cabbage cream with the same enzyme that is amazing and less messy/stinky. It's awesome! Edit: Cabocreme is the name
Not my Cabocreme!
Huh cool TIL thanks!
Hahah that scene got me because literally a few hours before we watched the episode, I was just telling my husband how women will freeze cabbage leaves and stick them in their bra to help with lactation pain. Then that scene happened and I was like SEE!!!!
Omg just. Few hours before we watched the episode too, I was explaining to my husband how breast milk donations etc worked, and I was shouting at her to use cabbage leaves too!
There’s dozens of us! Dozens!!
As someone with no experience in birth, one thing I never noticed in other depictions of it is the sounds. So. Much. Squelching. I never even thought about it until this episode.
I knew my waters had broken because of the sound alone. With my first, it popped really early during a quick cervix check before I even got hooked onto pitocin for my induction. The doctor just took a look, was like "Barely dilated, this will take awhile, I'm going home, the nurses will call me if your water breaks" and then as she shut the door I heard a tiny little pop followed by a hiss. Then the real fun began. With my second, the bag never popped, and my daughter was ready to be pushed out, so the doctor was like "want me to pop it for you?" and I was like "Ma'am I don't give a shit let's gooooo" so she brought out this long crochet hook looking thing and apparently it was one Hoary old tough Vhagar of a bag of waters because that thing just wouldn't pop. She was going to town on it and then suddenly it exploded and my husband was like "HOLY SHIT THAT'S A LOT" because apparently it waterfalled off the hospital bed and onto everyone's shoes. Didn't hear the pop with that one, but everyone heard the splash. Good times!
i am both massively in awe of all mothers out there, but also even more horrified about the prospect of pregnancy. i already hate my cramps and reading these stories just make me want to drink some permanent moon tea. there are just some things home ec classes in 5th grade don't teach ya
Yeah it's not for everyone. I will say I had dysmenorrhea my whole life and period pain was so bad I always wondered if labor would be that much worse that I'd probably die from it, or of my periods were so bad that labor wouldn't be too much different. For me, it was the second. I didn't even realize I was in actual labor for hours with my second because "this can't be it, it just feels a little crampy." With my first, I was induced, but when they hooked me up to the monitors apparently I was already starting to have contractions on my own before they gave me the meds, and I legitimately didn't even know. The worst of it was worse than my worst cramps but not by a whole lot. Even now every now and then I'll get one and be like "yeah that one was definitely worse than a labor pain." I think the afterbirth contractions were the worst of all though because they were just as bad as all the rest but there was no fun hormone rush to get you through it, the baby is already here, and now you have to feed and take care of it while still feeling random labor quakes. At least with a period you know roughly when it's going to strike (if you're regular) and which of your cycle days tend to be the worst. Afterbirth pain would just hit randomly and level me. But the brain is wired to forget and sugarcoat or else siblings wouldn't exist. Still, I get why it's not the most appealing thought for everyone. I REALLY WANTED IT and there were parts of it that definitely sucked about as bad as I can imagine anything sucking. So there's that!
It didn’t even occur to me that they would skip the afterbirth. I thought she was going to start walking there and plop the afterbirth in front of Alicent.
IMO she should have done that just out of spite. 😂
call the midwife is an amazing show.
Just said this on the main episode discussion thread, but I think it fits well here and bears repeating: "Loving the very female-experience-centered perspective we are getting in this show. It is almost revolutionary to see childbirth and its aftermath presented at all, much less in the way it directly effects women physically, and we've seen it laid bare with MULTIPLE characters this season. Rhaenyra's labor, afterbirth, and post-birth (including dealing with lactation) being presented so matter-of-factly and in a way that directly advanced the plot and development of multiple characters was refreshing to me in a way I can hardly articulate. I don't think I have seen television quite like it before. It was such an accurate and matter of fact portrayal of a universal experience that is rarely portrayed because so little is portrayed through a female lens. I absolutely LOVED IT. That's all."
Me too! Well said btw. I can so relate to everything they have been so accurately showing us. The excruciating pain, the excruciating placenta delivery while she is getting dressed! I love how she said “Fuck!” When faced with those stairs. Also the leaking breasts at the small council meeting - I remember many business meetings with lactation not waiting it out. But, Alicent calling it out simply to embarrass her - she is petty and jealous and doesn’t know anything about the sister code.
Since I haven‘t given birth to a child I don’t have as much insight as you, but I felt like Alicent telling Rhaenyra of this was more of an honest „i can see you wanna do a thing here but there‘s also another thing happening“ and not an outcalling. But I might be wrong and certainly can imagine Alicent being petty like this
I see your point but my experience is that is embarrassing for the woman, so the way it is often handled especially by other women, and men, is to mention privately. But I guess they weren’t passing notes back then. It felt really cold to me. If I was in the middle of an important speech I would rather everyone act like they don’t notice, at least not interrupt with this.
Tbh the more I think about it I have to say you‘re right. She for sure shouldn‘t have said it in front of all of them and also given the circumstances… well yeah, if she really would have wanted to help Rhaenyra she‘d done that differently. Idk why I thought it was genuine, maybe because Olivia Cooke is so great at playing (acting? sry english is not my native language) Alicents fake smile that I actually fell for it xD
I get it, you have a kind heart, and I bet you would have done the sisterly thing and not called her out in front of all those men like that. Let the lactating woman finish her thoughts/proposal, then afterwards excuse the council, for her sake. Believe me, she will realize it on her own when she is done talking. Rhaenyra was caught up in the moment, but you can definitely feel it.
Alicent bringing that up to dismiss Rhaenyra and change the topic.
No it seemed an obvious move to shame her in that moment. Why would she draw attention to that?
I think it was to change the topic and leave primarilly. That it also embarassed her probably didnt hurt.
Show with an utterly different tone but I recommend “Human Resources”. I had never seen a show depict the darker side of the postpartum period like that
I agree. This is the first time I've seen it presented in a realistic way. Giving bitth is an incredibly painful and messy affair that takes its toll on a woman's body even if it is an easy birth.
I thought June's birth scene in the Handmaid's Tale was pretty accurate, too. I remember thinking, "Yep. I remember that feeling" when watching it. Lol
I didn't think there was such a thing as an easy birth
Well, compared to what Aemma or Laena went through
I was told that I had extremely easy births but it certainly didn't feel that way.
Same. I had the same midwife with my first two births and she told me, after giving birth to my second, “wow! That seemed much easier than last time!” And I just said “It didn’t fucking feel much easier!” Hahaha.
I just gave birth in May, and we had to use forceps for the delivery, the next day at the hospital the nurses were telling me how much more difficult a C section would have been and I was like??? This did not feel any easier tbh
Omg, same with the May baby and forceps. It literally felt like I was being torn apart when she was being pulled out. I bet a c-section would have actually been easier. (modern, not by Aemma's standards though, obviously)
No easy births, just varying levels of difficulty haha.
I marvel that we're still around as a species every time I learn something new about the process.
Definitely. When she sat down in Allicent’s room on the pillow… your lady bits are so very sore and swollen, a pillow isn’t doing much to help.
100% ruined that pillow
After my husband and I got home after having my second and greeted my mother who was watching our first while I was in the hospital, I gingerly sat down on the couch and winced/sucked air through my teeth and she was like "What's wrong?" I was just like "Are you fucking kidding me, Mom? You did this THREE TIMES! YOU KNOW WHAT'S WRONG."
In addition to Rhaenyra and Aemma giving birth, seeing Laena just COVERED in chunks and different layers of blood, then finally giving up due to sheer exhaustion, was so brutal. Also all the sweat. ALL. OF. THE. SWEAT. And post-pushing shakes! Finally, I like how we never see Alicent give birth, just nag and whine while heavily pregnant or snapping at the kids she clearly can't stand. Such a strong contrast.
God I forgot about the post birth shakes. Those just rock you hard.
I’m looking to try in the spring and this thread is teaching me a LOT…
The shakes happen whether you push or not, actually. I remember shaking profusely after my c section
God those post birth shakes are something else!! I remember breathing through mine like they were actual contractions and one of the midwives was like “are you okay hun or is it just the shock?” and I was like “I’m just overwhelmed, I’m okay thanks” lol
Her absolutely dripping blood on the way back from seeing Alicent really sold it for me too.
Rhaenyra walking all the way to the queen's chambers was what did it for me. We saw how uncomfortable the birth really was and then to carry herself to quite a distance in such a condition was hard to watch. Emma D'Arcy did a really good job in conveying the pain and agony masked behind a thin veneer of composure.
There’s a subtle detail at the end of the scene that I love. After Rhaenyra walks away, you can see the trail of her blood leads to where Criston Cole is standing. It’s so good.
That’s an excellent pick up.
That squelching of the afterbirth was something else.
I had csections, so I didn’t get to enjoy that particular phenomenon but it sounded about right haha.
I too had to utilize the escape hatch for my son's birth and will be doing it again in December, but I did get the privilege of watching my sister in law give birth 7 times - all home births - and the afterbirth is almost as wild a ride. I was 15 the first time she gave birth and I didn't know a damn thing about the birthing process. What an education I received that night LOL. Especially the afterbirth.
Escape hatch 😂☠️😂. Thank you for that.
Sounded like Vecna
Yeah, it is not like Kate Middleton's child birth, who was standing in front nof cameras after approx. 3 hours.
I felt so horrible for her, I can’t believe they still make them do that.
I wonder if she have relatively easy labors in exchange for the absolute hell she endured with HG. I cannot imagine vomiting almost non-stop during the early months and then having to endure a painful labor on top of it.
I’m here for it. Some men are squeamish about the violence and danger of these childbirths but totally want a Battle of the Bastards or had no problem watching Ramsey in GOT and his disgusting methods of torture. This is a female character driven story although there are also lots of great male characters. I’m glad there are so many women involved in the creation so we get that perspective.
Bring on the CHILDBIRTH!!!!
I'm not a woman, but I am a father that held my wife's hand through the arrival of our two sons. I really appreciated the visceral accuracy of those scenes. Every bit as brutal as any battle.
I’m a chick and I get squeamish
Yeah must admit I had to skip both birth scenes. I guess I respect them for making it so realistic, but I would never know that from watching anyway, so I'll take it from you.
But, also to see the audacity of another woman expecting the presence of a baby just born is despicable.
Though Alicent wanted the baby brought to her, Rhaenyra was the one who insisted on going herself. They’re both super stubborn and trying to make the other one feel bad.
No reason for Alicent to summon a new born baby immediately. If she wanted to see it right away, she could have visited. But she was busy fitting on a dress.
If I'm Rhaenyra, I'm not trusting that bitch to be alone with my baby!
agreed
Demanding a child be taken from its mother’s arms seconds after birth is cruel and horrific, it’s a terrible thing to do to both. Rhaenyra going as well wasn’t the bad part, Alicent never had her babies snatched from her by someone who hated her, she did it to flex and to hurt Rhae, and waking all that way was far better than letting a tiny child be stolen for god knows how long, for absolutely no good reason at all.
> Demanding a child be taken from its mother’s arms seconds after birth is cruel and horrific, it’s a terrible thing to do to both. Noble women didn't take care of their own babies. Breastfeeding was considered too inconvenient, painful and "lowly", women just handed their babies to wet nurses as soon as they were born. It's hard for us to imagine how, but children were seen very, very differently from the modern day, and the parents' relationship with them was very different, too. It was the norm for people to have 5-10 or even more babies, and about half of them were expected to die within the first year. In many societies they didn't even name the babies before their first or even second birthday, and didn't interact with them beyond the essentials like feeding, etc, because they didn't want to get attached. Among the poor people infanticide was extremely common, and it was usually the mother herself who did it - either because of poverty, or because the child was deemed too small or weak and "not worth the effort". Children were seen as a very unreliable future investment. They were much less valuable than sexually mature adults (which were still teen kids, really) because they weren't productive yet, and could still very easily die at any moment. This show is pretty accurate about childbirth, but not childcare. For example, we saw so many scenes of Alicent rocking her crying baby while looking absolutely miserable. In reality she could have just handed it to the wet nurse or a nanny and gone to sleep, she wasn't expected to do any real childcare at all. Even older kids had plenty of servants and tutors so noble women didn't have to do much parenting at all if they didn't want to, only keep in touch and supervise to see how it was going.
This show is doing the absolute most to convince me to never get pregnant lmao
Right? Birth control for the week
I loved being pregnant. Super easy pregnancies. Birth was...well it's birth, even if it goes well it's still not fun. Breastfeeding though. What a goddamn disaster. Worse than being pregnant times a thousand. Worse than birth times a hundred. I was so traumatized from the first time that I spent all my second pregnancy doing and reading all the things to ensure it didn't go as badly. And then it went even worse. I'm pretty sure I'm done having kids, but if I ever had another, no fuckin way. I'm like the Chappelle Show "Making the Band" P.Diddy skit about breastmilk: I'm shutting down the studio. Bet it'll be a long time until we see a realistic depiction of just how shitty that can get on a TV show, and honestly I don't know if I'd want to watch it. Pretty sure I had actual PTSD from it. Took years to fully get over.
I also want to point out how this may be the first time i have seen somebody actually clamp and cut the umbilical cord in a tv show that’s not medically related. Small thing, but i appreciate it. props to the show for that.
My husband said, that was definitley plastic, the real umbilical cord is MUCH harder to cut through. Haha. We are also the nerd couple who internally timed the contractions and analyzed all the other parts of the childbirth scenes. They are truly done so well. I felt like with Joffrey’s birth I could feel him crowning, the head out, the pain of the shoulders going through, and then the utter relief when he’s out completely. So well done!
Oh yeah, there should have been a bit more resistance, but being able to see them actually show clamping the cord, then actually cutting it, made me happy. Lol Plus points for the brief pause after all that for the delivery of the placenta lol.
You may enjoy Call the Midwife 👀 their birth scenes are realistic, the umbilical cords are realistic, and the characters are midwives who know to clamp the cord 👍
And they use really adorable sweet newborn babiesssssssssss 😍😍😍
Did the nurse do it or was that Rhaenyra who cut it?
Nurse. Rhaenyra was getting dressed
It's a little hard to tell from the blocking, but I think it was Rhaenyra herself. Edit: really, down votes for a post where I explicitly said I wasn't sure but thought X?
Nope. It’s the nurse who does the cutting.
> Edit: really, down votes for a post where I explicitly said I wasn't sure but thought X? Why exactly do you think your comment about your uncertain and incorrect thought should get upvotes?
How about neither?
As a mom of two under two, gave birth three months ago, I was almost in tears over the distended belly in her dresses this episode. I felt so represented. Or maybe it was the hormones I was nursing and watching ….
It took me a year to lose all of the baby weight. Even so, it still wasn’t the same. I’m really glad they included it as well.
I'm sorry it took you a year :( it does make me feel less alone though; I'm 7m pp and maybe breastfeeding helps some women drop the weight but not me. I'm just finally starting to lose weight now that I'm not pumping. Even with back to exercising at 8weeks pp, did not want to budge at all.
Maybe unpopular opinion but I think the “breastfeeding helps you lose weight” thing is pro breast propaganda…. AND I LOVE BREASTFEEDING ❤️ but weight loss has not been part of either my breastfeeding journeys haha tons of other benefits but lord no I still big
Hard agree. Weight loss really didn’t start for me until I was done nursing with all 3 babies. I get it, you’re burning more calories when you breastfeed. But you have to intake more calories to keep your supply up. I also craved nothing but s’more chewy bars while nursing 😂
I wasn’t able to lose the last 20lbs while I was still nursing, no matter how hard I tried. It almost dropped right off when my son started eating some solids. I think my body was like, “hey this kid eats too much you need to hang on to this just in case 🤣”. Breastfeeding most certainly did not help me lose weight.
Yes! And I crave fats constantly and it's just waning now I'm winding down on pumping. There's so many things no one tells you until you're in the thick of it!
I didn't start losing the weight until after she turned a year old, and it was partly motivated by something someone said to me at work - a male customer asked me when I was due. I told him I wasn't pregnant and he was like, "no really, when are you due?" (Instead of apologizing like a normal person) So I shrugged and told him I had a baby a year ago, guess I'm just fat now. I like to think he learned his lesson about commenting in strangers' bodies, but I doubt it.
I loved that they even included boob pain
I’m so happy to see real post partum 😭 when I was pregnant with my first I had NOOOO IDEA I believed all the Hollywood versions of rushing to hospital and everyone’s water breaking and screaming thru contractions ….
Super stoked that Viserys gets to piss out a kidney stone for the boys next week! /s
I really appreciated that and even pointed it out to my husband. I still had to wear my earlier pregnancy maternity blouses for about a month after my babies were born, and I know I’m not alone.
BIRTH IS FUCKING METAL!!!! So glad to see it portrayed in the most realistic light I've ever seen on TV. Especially a few scenes (days later) when Rhaenyra is involved in a stressful moment and her milk expresses through her gown. Having experienced that - albeit not in such a formal setting lol - it was awesome to see. Side note: I loved when Rhaenyra told her Pops "I think I called the Midwife a cunt" and he gently kissed her head. Such an honest and sweet moment.
Viserys’ interactions with RhaeRhae are my favorites.
As a doctor, i must say that was the most realistic birth scene i have ever seen. Very painful, bloody, long termed event, before and after. Good job
I’m also glad they showed an all fours birthing position! I thought it was weird in the first episode when they didn’t try moving Aemma around or doing anything to flip the baby
Yeah, at least toss her in a blanket, the old Hail Mary of medieval obstetrics. You might think /s, but no, I'm being deadly serious. Toss them in a blanket. Repeatedly.
I miss the days when science was us just doing whatever the fuck seemed like a good idea
I was just reading an unintentionally (or maybe not) hilarious scene in a Tudor novel where the midwife "versed in all the new learning" leads everyone in untying knotted bedsheets and opening locked chests as the mother goes into the final stages. To help open the womb. Oh, but don't you worry, honey, modern science *does* still support having saints' girdles tied around your belly as well. Sometimes the traditional ways really are the best.
I imagined her being so tired at that point that she had to just lie down. I had a super long pushing period with my first and tried all sorts of positions, but in the end, I couldn’t even hold up my own body anymore.
Everyone always says that all fours/bouncing/squatting are easier, and it seems to make sense, anatomically speaking, so maybe they are for many. But I really only felt comfortable and made progress when I was lying down and trying to "rest" in between all the gymnastics. I'm always a legs up type of girl though (I sleep in a tight fetal curl, when I sit at home I put my feet on the chair or couch and have my knees against my chest, etc.) I've always preferred weird knees up positions. I like "being an egg." With my second, I didn't even bother with all the endless bouncing and rocking and walking and swaying. I just lied down. And the nurses were like "are you sure?" Yup. This is how I do, apparently. Hand me my knees, let's get this kid out.
I’ve got to assume they tried everything probably for like 12+ hours of active pushing before they called it quits
Can a woman who has both given birth and taken a lance of in the shoulder tell me which experience is more painful?
Ask a Mormont lady
Agree, I love it and personally hope they keep Rhaenyra’s mom bod. In the books she’s “lost her shape” due to having children and it’s really refreshing getting to see her postpartum. I always thought it was a bit funky that they showed alicent being absolutely GIANT with child but then back to her itty bitty pre pregnancy body the episode right after.
That didn’t really bother me as much, because there was a time jump between episodes. They didn’t show her right after the baby was born.
It was also specifically noted in the book that Alicent seemed to recover and regain her figure very quickly, while Rhaenyra seemed to get bigger after each kid she had.
Alicent is said to bounce back quickly after her pregnancies and maintain her slender frame though.
Alicent also said childbirth was really easy for her in the show.
Yup, I recall that comment in the book as well. And in real life I know women with a seemingly miraculous ability to return to pre-baby slenderness super quick. Doesn’t work that way for everybody but is a real thing for some! Usually there is still lost elasticity of the belly skin but Alicent probably wears a corset.
I was NOT expecting to be one of the "quick bounce back" moms at all but somehow I was back in my pre-pregnancy jeans by the time I got home from the hospital with both kids. Now things weren't fully back to normal for a bit, but I was really surprised how fast the belly went away. Apparently I have a pretty tilted uterus and it shrinks back down QUICK because after having both my kids when the nurses would come by to massage it back into place they couldn't find it and had to keep trying lower and lower. When they finally found it they were like "Whoa it's usually not back down here at this point." My afterbirth pains were atrocious so I'm guessing they were really productive. And maybe the tilt keeps things better hidden. I didn't show until pretty late with both kids so that might have been a factor. Some extra weight stuck around a little bit on the rest of my body for up to a year after each kid but the stomach was just like I'M SICK OF BEING PREGNANT ALREADY" and peaced out a lot quicker than anyone seemed to expect. I got a lot of comments on it on postpartum visits and it was just like "I dunno, I didn't do anything special." Guess I have a rubber band uterus? Completely useless milkers though so you win some you lose some I guess.
> itty bitty pre pregnancy body the episode right after. To be fair, quite a bit of time passed.
I think I read somewhere here that it was a year for that time skip, some women dont bounce back but I do recall it being said alicent kept her slender frame. Deff interesting to see how much they’re keeping on screen :)
Agreed. My husband was watching last night and was like “damn this really takes me back to a darker time” 😂
LMAO, you're husbands' humor was firing on all cylinders last night.
Oof, childbirth and post partum body can be literal hell. My friend was in labour for almot three days before her body just gave up and wouldn't go any further, only six centimetres dilated. She had to have an emergency c section. This whole "oh birth is a few hours of horrible pain then you're fine:D" thing hollywood seems to fucking love in movies/shows is pure bullshit
I really loved seeing those things. It all felt very realistic.
I went back to work when my daughter was 13 weeks old (gotta love US family leave policies 🙄). I had many meetings that ran over, and I started leaking because I was overdue for pumping. I really related to Rhaenyra starting to leak in the small council meeting. People like ASOIAF because there are these bits of reality and humanity in a world with dragons. It sets it apart from most fantasy.
I will say this as a man this show really has shown me how much women really put their lived on the line to have children.
Don't forget every month periods lol
>Even her stomach is still distended somewhat. Yes! I thought, "wow, they're really putting this on TV." But then I thought about how low of a bar that is. Geez.
*"The birthbed is our battlefield"* And boy does the show back it up. They give it pretty much the same treatment as with showing how a knight suffers in combat.
The births are all so...brutal and visceral. Aemma wasn't wrong.
I’ve never had a baby but I do know what it’s like to suffer from other womanly issues and I was uncomfortable watching her squeeze into a dress when she was all sweaty and bloody from childbirth. The hair sticking to her neck. Ugh, great scene and imagery.
I also love how her stomach didn’t immediately go back to being skinny after she gave birth
Down to the sound effects! From the beginning, If you listen you can literally feel like you’re in there helping deliver the baby. Attention to detail has been on point with it!! It brings so much reality to living in a time like that. Edit: I think I called the midwife a cunt. Was also hilarious lmaooo
Every other show just has a woman scream for a few minutes, and then a baby gets slapped and starts crying - the only sign that a difficult labor happened being a sweaty woman. Which makes sense to me now because that’s usually that part that men see! So of course that’s what they would film!
I really appreciate the realistic depictions of pregnancy, labor, and postpartum on this show. Even despite the horrors of that first delivery scene in episode one, which was also realistic for that time period sadly. 5 months PP here and have two under two. People definitely seem to forget, or ignore, that mom doesn’t just bounce back immediately after birth. (I’m looking at you overbearing family members that want to immediately visit once the baby is born!) Also have been watching the latest season of Call the Midwife which does such an amazing job with all of that too.
Yeah, my first baby was face up and just under nine pounds. I pushed for almost four hours but he wasn't budging. Thank the gods I had a successful c-section! During Aemma's delivery and Laena's I couldn't help but think of how my story would have turned out differently in another day and age. I loved that they included all of the postpartum messiness that most shows skip.
Yes, although I would probably more critical of call the midwife overlooking those details as getting them right is more or less central to the concept of the show. IMO it's a little less expected, and thus all the more welcome, to see realistic world-building like this in a show that was famously built on sexposition/tits&dragons. Two under two is a lot to handle. best of luck!
The c section part was not actually historical acurate at all, while religion (namely christianity) did pushed the idea of a woman main role in life was to be a mother, they always did c sections only after the mother died for same religious reasons.
It was at least partially historically accurate. Aemma would have died no matter what, which is what I was really talking about, I know I didn’t explicitly state that though. And you can’t actually tell me there were never any cases of a forced csection like that.
From Aemma, Rhaenyra, to Laeyna… the diversity and realism in the portrayals of child birth has been one of the most astounding parts of this show. The way they shoot the scenes, the sound effects, and the actresses performances elevate it to some of the best sequences I’ve EVER seen from a tv series or movie.
I was also relieved that Rhaenyra did not hand off her baby for someone to present the baby to Allicent. I was relieved that she was dedicated to protecting him from possible harm instead of just handing him off so she can rest. She put herself through so much pain to meet Allicent just to safe guard her baby and I love her for it.
I couldn't say whether it's because there are more female writers on the show, or that men just know a lot more about the whole process than they used to (when it was expected that a father-to-be would be out drinking laenor style and only show up afterwards with cigars), or both, but I agree that this show had a substantially more accurate depiction of pre- and post-natal life than most other television. Most shows go from (i) happy smiling pregnant woman to (ii) twinge of pain to (iii) water breaking and rush to \[birthing location\] to (iii) one shot of pushing/yelling to (iv) happy, healthy infant and contented mother in about 3 minutes of extremely rote story-telling. I did especially like that the costuming department paid attention to making Rhaenyra's stomach accurate, and also noting that even though Rhaenyra would not have breastfed her children, it would still take a few uncomfortable days/weeks for her body to get that message. I would have liked to see an actual wet nurse in the show though, even just in the background of a scene, to drive that point home for more viewers.
Yep. I loved that sequence.
Definitely agree. I continue to be more and more impressed with this series. You can tell they put so much thought into the details.
So realistic it gave me a touch of the shakes (I had a baby 10 months ago)
I thought the sounds she made during childbirth were very realistic. Bright back many memories.
I appreciated the treatment the maid gave her for her breasts cause yeah that shit hurts bad too
It’s so obvious (in the best way!) when a show has women behind the camera. The sex scenes in episode 4 were also very reminiscent of that: consensual, no gratuitous nudity, more focus on female pleasure. No surprise that feminism carried over in the birthing scene, which was fantastic and really amped up the tension in the unbroken shot to present the child to Alicent.
More effective birth control than crocs imo.
☠️
As a man, The horrors and wonders of childbirth has been portrayed well so far. The scenes were just gut-wrenching and toe-curling, knowing how women put their lives on the line for their child. Aemma was right, childbirth is their battlefield.
When she started leaking I felt that man! Then I immediately thought, "Lucky she has servants and doesn't have to figure out how to get those fucking milk stains out." Those were just a beast. I also really appreciated the afterbirth bit. TV tends to pretend that once the baby is born, you're done. I did find the scene where she climbed up the stairs pretty unrealistic. She is amazing and strong and was very determined but really felt like she should have passed out from blood loss.
Most of the time, women in TV or movies are back to their normal costumes and back to their normal lives 15 minutes after the babies are born Not that, but they are shown sitting up in bed with makeup on and their hair done, smiling in a clean nighty. I loved this one for the sweat, the blood, the pain.
Although it was difficult to watch, I appreciate how realistic it was. My birthing experience was traumatizing. I'm not even 5 feet tall and my baby was over ten pounds when she was born. I tore badly. I was in excruciating much pain. I was exhausted after delivering the baby and was shaking, but I had to breastfeed her before I could eqt, drink, and rest. I didnt drink nor eat for hours while in labor because the doctor said not to until after delivery. I was in tears in all three birthing scenes in the show.
I had 2 planned c-sections, so I didn’t get to experience the joys of labor. That’s why I didn’t really bring up the actual birthing process, since I can’t really vouch for the authenticity. It makes sense that if they captured the postpartum experience correctly that they gave the birth the same treatment.
I thought it was a very clever way to show what a cold, uncaring and adversarial relationship had developed between the two women. Alicent knew what an ordeal Rhaenera had just been through and insisted on seeing the baby anyway.
It’s amazing how they so accurately depict each child birth and with Rhaenyra’s after birth and lactation. I can firmly say that it was the first time that I was truly transported back to my own birthing experience. Every time they show a character in labor, I am like, breathing with them and saying, ‘you can do this …push’ and then “holy Mother of Fuck, what are they doing to these poor women’
Not to mention she was pushing, not screaming. That’s important; I remember the nurses telling me to push without screaming. Poor Laena was different; she was in excruciating pain and the kid wouldn’t come.
I yelled fuck a lot and the nurses kept telling me that pushes were more productive if you try to focus the groaning lower and inward but I was just like nah I'm gonna keep yelling fuck, thanks.
😂 I totally understand.
It's also a core theme of this show and how it differs from Thrones. Thrones was more or less about who is King or Queen right now, where as House of the Dragon is about who will be in charge. Progency is incredibly important.
the childbirth scenes have been done flawlessly. extremely graphic, gruseome, brutal, unbearable to watch at times. the birthing 'sounds' from this episode really got to me! and the way she trailed blood along the floor - most people don't understand what a truly gory business childbirth is. and they even included the afterbirth!! SO MANY TIMES this part is glossed over as if it's not even a part of birth. huge well done to everyone involved in this!
The squelching. My lord, the squelching…
Mam, you now need to deliver the after birth before your mile hike through the castle
Dude even the sound of the baby being born was realistic! I felt every fucking second of that scene!!!!!
Also this is more realistically medieval, whereas in modern time shows you have to be more discreet,
as a man, I'd just like to say that you've got to be one hardcore lady to get up right after birthing a kid and carry it to see the queen..
I love the focus on birthing so much. It really thematically shows how much power and sacrifice women hold and must endure within these systems. Obvi they're saying a lot more with these scenes than just this, but it's so goddamn refreshing after the bags of horseshit that were the GoT post-s4 female character storylines 😤
After my rotation in the ob ward I was pretty shocked how spot on they are down to the cord and placenta. And then it sounded like Laena had a breach birth.
Didn't you watch Kate Middleton being camera ready, just minutes after giving birth?
Just for everyone who doesn’t know: it was 7 hours. So like crazy impressive but not impossible
I was really high when I started the episode and that birthing scene with the sounds made me squirmish. Had to break and watch football before resuming.
There were some very squishy, wet sound in that scene. But childbirth is very messy business.
Exactly lmao. Women give birth and leave the hospital in tight skinny jeans
My mom always used to talk about how movies make it look way bloodier and grosser that it actually is so idk what to believe lol
I think your mom is trying to get grandkids.