74
STEPPINGBACKONTHEWARD
‘ITWASAJOBTHATI
ALWAYSWANTEDTODO’
EMMAWILLIS RETURNSWITHTHESECONDSERIESOF‘DELIVERINGBABIES’
ANDTALKSABOUTTHECHALLENGESOFHOSPITALLIFEC
onsidering TV presenting was Emma
Willis’s Plan B, she’s carved out an
impressive career for herself fronting
long-running shows like The Voice.
The 43 year old initially assumed she’d
follow her parents into the world of medicine.
And her passion for helping others is evident
as she reprises her role as a maternity care
assistant in the second series of Emma Willis:
Delivering Babies.
For the fly-on-the-wall documentary, Emma
returns to Princess Alexandra Hospital’s busy
maternity ward in Essex, working four long
shifts a week over a three-month period.
‘I’m glad it still knocks me and makes me
emotional because it’s the most incredible
thing to witness,’ she says of her latest
experience on the neonatal frontline.
Emma is a mum herself to daughters
Isabelle, ten, and Trixie, three, and seven-
year-old son Ace, who she shares with her
Busted bassist husband Matt, 36.
Here she reveals why the new series
brought back traumatic post-natal memories,
whether she feels broody for more babies
and how her time on the maternity ward has
changed her...Did you remember all your training from
the first time around?
When you haven’t done it for nine months
you do suddenly panic that you’re going to
do it wrong. With things like taking blood
again, I’m like, I can’t just stab somebody!
What if I do it wrong?How did the first series change your
attitude towards your other TV work?
It reaffirmed what my attitude already was. I
grew up with my parents doing it and it was a
job that I always wanted to do and thought I
would do. And then I ended up in something
very, very different. So, I think it’s a good
reality check for me, even though I’m very in
check with reality anyway. It puts everything
into perspective and makes me feel even
more privileged to do what I do because,
in comparison, I don’t really have any stress
in my job.What did you find
most challenging
this time?
Spending time in the
neonatal part of the
hospital [intensive
care for babies]. I
can now tube-feed
babies. That was
such a big challenge
for me because my
daughter had it a few
days after birth and
watching someone
do it to her was
terrifying. I was so scared that it was hurting
her. So for me to have to do it to another child
just felt all sorts of wrong. But then you realise
that it’s actually very quick, and the ones that I
did never cried, so I figured that surely it can’t
hurt that much, and they need the tube to
feed. My biggest fear was when
they said: ‘What you don’t want
to do is put it into the lung,’
which sounds horrible!Does filming the show make
you feel broody?
Initially it does, just thinking
about the smells and how cute
the babies are. We’ve said three
is enough, I’m never going to
do this again, but I look at the
bubble the new parents are in,
which is amazing. A few weeks
later you realise that although
the bubble lasts forever, that
immediate newborn baby thing
is hard work. We’re very lucky to
have three good’uns and why
rock the boat? Let’s just stick
with what we’ve got!Do you watch Delivering
Babies when it’s on?
Yes, but not with the kids, as
they’re a bit young. I watch itwith Matt and my mum.
She’s really supportive of it.Do you hope to inspire
other people to take
up the role as a career?
Yes, I hope so. I love it! It’s
b****y hard work and a lot of it is cleaning
beds, making beds and answering buzzers,
but I enjoy that. Having been a pregnant
woman, you’re just so thankful for any help
you can get immediately before and after.
So I’d do anything you want, literally. If you
puked, I’d clean it, it’s fine!If one of your friends was going into
labour, could you assist?
Assist, yeah – deliver, no! I always say to my
pregnant friends, if you’re with me you’ll
be fine. I’d like to think I’d be cool as a
cucumber, but I might just lose my s**t and
go into a blind panic!You’re now fully qualified! Does this mean
you can work in any hospital?
Yes! I’ve got the recognised care certificate,
which everyone has to achieve to get a job in
a hospital. So I’ve got a back-up plan now! In
the future, when all the telly stuff ends, I can’t
imagine wanting to do nothing. So yeah,
maybe a bit of volunteering work, why not?
I feel like I can do it!
THE NEW SERIES OF ‘EMMA WILLIS: DELIVERING BABIES’ STARTS
ON MONDAY AUGUST 5 AT 10PM ON W.
EMMA WILLIS COLLECTION FROM NEXT AVAILABLE AT NEXT.CO.UKOK!hM dgAbove: Emma
and Matt share
Ace, Trixie and
Isabelle (left)Emma is now
qualified to work
in a hospitalEDITED BY MICHELLE GARNETT
PHOTOGRAPHS BY FIRECRACKER FILMS, INSTAGRAM