In this delightful British six-part hospital series Maternal, three doctors return to work after taking maternity leave. They soon discover that it is not so easy to combine their demanding hospital jobs with motherhood. In the first minutes of the British drama series Maternal, three women meet at the nursery of the hospital where they work as doctors. All three are going back to work after months, in one case even years, of maternity leave. Two of them, pediatrician Maryam (Parminder Nagra/D.I.Ray) and general practitioner Helen (Lisa McGrillis/Mum), have just barely handed over their protesting offspring to the daycare attendees when they drag their colleague Catherine (Lara Pulver/The Split) out of her expensive sports car in a spotless outfit and with blow-dried hair. Catherine, who is a surgeon, takes her happy-looking baby out of the car – “how does she get a baby seat in there?” her colleagues wonder, shaking her head – and two seconds later walks out of the building alone again.
On this first morning, the three women all get a gentle return to acclimatize before the real work begins, in a series of boring ICT lectures. Thrown back into busy hospital life, there is a difference between uncertainty (can I really still do this) and overwhelming relief (I think I can).
Maternal shows how difficult it is to reconcile ambition with parenthood
The frustration of the three women in the opening episode is deafening. By proving to themselves and others that they didn't stop being capable when they became mothers, they won't start slow and admit any weakness. Beneath this facade, they are plagued by doubt.
The series is gripping and humorous. There are heartbreaking moments. But despite these soap-like elements, the episodes seem to be largely drawn from life. The search for a balance between a career and motherhood of the women is very recognizable. Unlike long hospital series like ER, a good story is only told in six episodes. A second season would have been fitting, but unfortunately, this will not happen.
