Almost a decade after Channel 4 shut the hospital doors on One Born Every Minute, the eye-opening series is returning for another round.
The reality show was a staple of British TV in the 2010s, lifting the curtain on the truth behind the ‘miracle of childbirth’ as we follow families going through the terror and joy of this life-changing experience.
Described by Channel 4 as ‘a ground-breaking look at the drama and emotion of a maternity unit, from the perspective of the parents-to-be and the maternity ward staff’, it aired between 2010 and 2018.
The fly-on-the-wall series received plenty of praise for tackling this often misunderstood medical event and educating the masses about what can happen in a delivery room.
Each episode followed various families through the trials and tribulations of having a baby, with nothing off the table in this candid and unfiltered and, often, gory experience.
The Guardian called it ‘the birth of a great show’, the i paper dubbed it ‘a raw and honest labour of love’ and the Telegraph called it a ‘drama that always makes you cry like a baby’.
Now, Channel 4 has confirmed the Bafta-winning reality show will return to E4 for 12 new episodes set to film later this year.
The reboot aims to ‘capture modern Britain, highlight evolving family dynamics, advances in maternity care, and the real-life challenges faced by NHS staff in 2026.’
Bringing diverse voices and a contemporary perspective to this age-old practice, once more families and hospital staff will be filmed using fixed-rig cameras as we follow ‘the raw, emotional, and sometimes unpredictable moments.’
The show hopes to ‘continue to celebrate the strength, resilience, and humanity found in delivery rooms during this life-changing period.’
E4 exec Vivienne Molokwu shared it was a ‘privilege’ to bring the show back.
‘We know the roller coaster of emotions that this period brings is something that will really resonate with the E4 audience, and we cannot wait for our viewers to see how the digital age has reshaped how families navigate this stage of life,’ she said.
There’s no doubt that the original series hit home with a wide-ranging audience, especially mothers and expectant parents.
‘For me, I actually found it’s super reassuring to see things going wrong and how expertly and kindly the care teams handle it,’ Reddit user fuzzydunlop54321 wrote.
‘So long as you take it with a pinch of salt and go in knowing they’ll pick the dramatic/emotional storylines then you’ll be grand,’ EcstaticDingo172 warned.
‘It was genuinely super helpful as it turned out I ended up having lots of people and intervention but it didn’t feel weird because I’d watched so much on TV,’ Uoarti agreed.
‘Honestly me and my partner loved watching all of it together, we smiled and cried together, and think for him he made him more aware of the process. But as everyone has said, it is dramatised, so don’t let it scare you,’ ResponsibleAd449 added.
There has been some criticism by critics and fans that the selection of births tended toward the dramatic, not helped by over-editing, building a ‘traumatic’ portrayal of what happens in a maternity ward.
One mumsnet user Everythinghippie29 said she was left ‘even more terrified’ after watching and another, choccywoccydodah, agreed: ‘I loved watching OBEM, but I do think they over dramatise it sometimes.’
At the time, a widely-reported-on petition from birth coach, Alexia Leachman, was even launched with a call to end the show, saying ‘while providing entertainment [shows like OBEM] are very damaging as they are not representative of the reality of childbirth’.
It reached over 1.3k signatures.
Guardian critic Sam Wollaston said: ‘It captures the emotions of childbirth well – but maybe manufactures a little too much tension when things start to go wrong.’
Ultimately, however, the praise for the UK version has far outweighed any backlash.
It was axed in 2019 after 11 series, reportedly due to declining ratings. When it first started, the show drew in millions of viewers, but its final episode in May 2018 only managed to draw in 600k.
With a lengthy break and a brand new audience, however, the reboot may just breathe new life into this series as it is born again.
One Born Every Minute seasons one to 11 are available to stream on Channel 4. There is currently no release date for the new season.
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