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.