My Experience Acting On Call The Midwife.

Throughout my acting career so far 'Call The Midwife' has been one of my most memorable experiences to date not just for the character I played but it gave me an insight into motherhood and babies!!!. Last year I played the character Shirley Dent. She was a typical Eastender with an contagious excitability about becoming a first time mother, however there was a twist.

My characters new born baby was accidentally swapped and given to a different mother during an unexpected fire at Nonatus House. A nightmare scenario for any parent. The story line was written beautifully by Heidi Thomas and directed by the lovely Darcia Martin. I was a big fan of the show before filming it so as an actor it made the experience even more sweeter.

I have to admit babies are something I do not have the most experience with, my first day nerves were not because I was afraid of potentially fluffing my lines or the panic of still fitting into that costume I had been measured for a month earlier, the thing I was most apprehensive about was .....the baby. Would the baby like me? what if I dropped someones little bundle of joy!..did everyone expect me to be a maternal competent nanny type of woman? you know like everyone's favorite childhood nanny Mary Poppins because I am not that type of woman I am not 'practically perfect in every way' and up until last month I didn't even own my own umbrella.

One of the more memorable scenes for me on the show was my birthing scene. A few days earlier I met a a lovely midwife consultant. I listened to her tales of real life mothers and their experiences. I felt my jawdrop open, she spoke so fondly of it, like it was a beautiful moment between mother and baby. To me it sounded horrific, almost Like the red wedding in game of thrones, I began to wonder why anyone would EVER want to have children if it meant having to go through this birthing experience.

It was a particularly cold day, I wrapped myself up in my on set puffa jacket and hurried back to my trailer. My little vintage blue 1950s slingback shoes kept getting stuck in the gravel and my prosthetic baby bump made we waddle. Everything seemed to take more time.

I had some down time so I decided to do some more research, I ended up on a youtube clip of 'one born every minute' and as I watched this poor woman scream and squirm I couldn't help but think about that iconic scene from the film 'alien' where the alien violently shoots out of the stomach....

My mind was made up, it all cemented my opinion that I would never have children. just cats. lots of cats.

The next day, the cold morning air stung my cheeks I maneuvered the gravel like a pro and arrived back onto set. I was greeted with a warm smile from the real life mother of my soon to be on screen baby,before I knew it she had placed this little bundle of giggly joy into my arms.

My arms felt like jelly!!!! but then the strangest thing happened, as I looked down into these two twinkly blue eyes I couldn't help but feel a wave of what I can only describe as maternal instants. I felt incredibly protective over this little human that I had just met five minutes ago and it genuinely surprised me. Maybe this is why women put themselves though the barbaric episode of childbirth. It all made a little more sense.

As the days went on I found myself weirdly holding my prosthetic bump. It was the strangest thing. The midwife consultant noticed this and mentioned it wasn't the first time she had seen it with the actors. Even though it wasn't real I found myself shielding it from people and protecting it. what was happening to me!

THE BIRTHING SCENE- it was the scene I was most looking forward to. It felt raw and real, there was blood and bodily fluid carefully applied to the bottom half of my body all supplied in generous amounts from the art departments magical bag of tricks. I climbed up onto the rickety old fashioned hospital bead to get into my starting position. It was time for final touches (a moment where a member from each department runs in to make sure everything is as it should be e.g hair, costume.... final touches is always closely followed by "clear set" and as quickly as everyone appears they disappear out of sight like they never had ever appeared in the first place.

Its something that after time you get used to.

"ACTION" and we were off!! I put into practice my breathing techniques however I have to admit after breathing short sharp deep breaths quickly paired with being tilted on the bed over the course of different angled takes I began to get increasingly dizzy.

The drama of the scene died down. I had one line left, and the finish line was in sight, the baby was lifted into my arms and just at the moment of peaceful testiness the baby looked at me dead in the eyes and let off the biggest fart I had ever heard.

Yes someones little bundle of joy had just farted in my face.

Now i could say I was professional and carried on without a flicker of a smile BUT it took the most amount of effort from me not react. The director shouted cut and all cast and crew erupted into fits of laughter. Now if getting farted in the face wasn't enough the baby had also decided that this was the perfect time for a toilet break. As I lay unable to move on the hospital bed with a fart lingering in my face and baby wee all down my legs I couldn't do nothing but laugh. I was extremely touched by the ridiculously kind act by no other than Helen George aka Trixie who instantly grabbed a wet

wipe and wiped my wee drenched legs down. Its something I will never forget

Call the midwife was an amazing experience. I got to play a fantastically written strong female character and got to learn a few things about my self along the way. Long may the show continue

MY EPISODE BELOW

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b054z6hp

LISA GREENWOOD X