IT is one of the most natural things in the world, but yet screams of horror can be heard in living rooms up and down the country when One Born Every Minute on Channel 4 makes its weekly appearance on TV screens.

I’m not sure if it is out of fascination or fear that the documentary, which follows the daily goings on of a maternity unit, has become so popular and gained an almost cult-like status.

No stone is left unturned in the programme which shows every part of life on the maternity unit, from the reception desk to the neo-natal ward and operating theatre to the birthing pool.

The programme is certainly not one for the fainthearted and makes the likes of Casualty and Holby City look positively tame.

I think watching it while six months pregnant may not have been the best idea.

This week was another tearjerker as mum-to-be Julia, who thought she would never have children is in her final stages of pregnancy while third-time mother Sara says she is terrified of birth after a previous traumatic experience.

It might not make the most comfortable viewing but there are some emotional and often very funny moments from the perspective of the soon-to-be parents and family, as well as the hospital staff.