“A Baby on the Way”

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32540, 25 February 1971, Page 6

“A Baby on the Way”

Concentrating on the joyous and emotional factors of a baby’s growth from conception to birth rather than the clinical aspects, the film, “A Baby on the Way,” had its premiere in Christchurch yesterday morning. The director of the film, Mr Frank Chilton, who is the senior director of the National Film Unit, and Dr Neil Begg, the director of medical services for the Plunket Society, attended the premiere along with about 100 young women nurses, teachers, and mothers.

i “The film was designed for J | mothers-to-be, secondary school children, and young I; 1 country women who can not ' I attend ante-natal classes,” ’ . said Dr Begg. L “It will be of advantage to | ; school-children because they i have a queer idea about re- ] t production,” he said. r Although the film showed: only a few ante-natal exer-, cises not enough! for a ! course Dr Begg said that g the film would be accompan- . led by a pamphlet and would probably be shown by a PlunI ket nurse. N.Z. FILM e There were imported films B available, but the Plunket So- ’’ ciety wanted a film that had; _ "its own New Zealand stamp” on it, he said. “It’s the first time a film of this type had been made by New Zealanders for New Zealanders. It was! designed to show a proper concern for family life and n not just the mechanics of the' e baby’s growth,” he said. The film is short, lasting, , only 18 minutes, and although' j it may appear not sufficiently ? explicit on some subjects, Dr ’* Begg said that it was intended to give an outline and provoke further thought. 8 While he thought it was not e very suitable for cinemas, Dr j II Begg is hopeful that it may) ® appear on television and it: >1 will definitely be used m hos1 pitals, educational centres and medical circles. “ FOR OVERSEAS ,! It is also designed for over-: :’-seas release, particularly the 1 jUnited States where a film on; Ithe work of Plunket made 12 years ago is still being shown.: Mr F. Chilton said that the I

film was a result of many discussions between Dr Begg and himself over the last few years. “The script was a synopsis of Dr Begg’s views while 1 presented the material tr: make it visually interesting,’ he said. Working from the premiss that birth is a miracle “how a grain of sand grows into t baby,” Mr Chilton said h< tried to present birth as mir aculous and human, in a fam ily situation. “The film lets women thin! about birth, and shows then where to go to receive helj and advice. At first it is jus a matter of learning how t< carry their babies, then late: how to relax." His final words were: “It’: not meant to be ABC instruc jtional.” AUCKLAND SETTING Filming began in Octobe: 'and it was finished in mid November. It is set in Auck land much of it at the Na tional Women’s Hospital with regular forays to thi I family doctor’s surgery. Designed to cover varia tions in pregnancies, the filn encompasses about 10 womei I and their families during th: vital nine-month period. Although there are ni I really concrete plans afoot ,|Dr Begg hopes that “> ■Baby on the Way” will b: 'the first of six films dealinj with children from concep tion to school age. And the final word fron Ithe Christchurch president o I the Plunket Society, Mrs N !M. Peryer: “I think the filn [presents the intangible spiri ! and beauty of growth an< birth, while showing the prac i|tical aspects of motherhood.’