Birthday.

England, 1974 or 1979.

1 film reel (12 mins.) : sound; colour 16 mm

National Childbirth Trust.

More material on the NCT is held in the Wellcome Library reference SA/NCT.

Acetic: stored in Fridge B.

Supporting material is available in the department, a four pages on two A4 sheet leaflet entitled 'Films Leaflet - An Introduction to 'Birthday'' by Gwen Rankin. The original version of this film made in 1964 was 21 minutes duration. She writes that the film is 'one of the most valuable resources the NCT has for the teaching of birth'. Rankin outlines the possible reactions to the film and indicates that the film has been shown to antenatal audiences as well as in schools from ages thirteen upwards. Of the two births shown (one in hospital and one at home), it is observed that as the labouring woman enters into the transitional stage from stage one to stage two in labour she appears in distress; Rankin points out that she suddenly became conscious of the eighteen men at the bottom of the bed who formed the film crew! It is noted that six expectant parents freely volunteered to be filmed based on their due dates and the choice of the final two in the film was as result of when the births actually happened and that this footage is not the 'best of six'.