Leaving your baby screaming at nursery, running to work with mushed Weetabix smeared on your top and struggling with imposter syndrome all day?
If you’re a harassed working mum, that will all be extremely familiar and ITV’s Maternal takes this relatable territory and runs with it. (In heels. With a stroller).
A no-holds-barred exploration of the ultimate juggle, the six-part drama follows three women who are balancing their lives as mothers alongside their demanding jobs in post-pandemic medicine at City General Hospital.
Lisa McGrillis, Parminder Nagra and Lara Pulver are excellent as friends and colleagues who actually support each other (imagine!) as they head back to work after maternity leave.
Maryam (played by Parminder) is a paediatrician who has been away for two years after having two kids and is having actual nightmares worrying about returning to frontline duties.
But the question is does she really want to be “reading The f***ing Gruffalo for the rest of her life”?
She’s excellent at her job and the superhero feelings rush in once she gets back on the labour ward. But there’s a hint at a past mental health trauma that leaves her apprehensive.
Helen (Lisa) is a registrar in acute medicine, back after her third child and absolutely fine, except for having to pump milk during a lecture.
Oh, and the fact that her cheating husband Guy (Oliver Chris) is a hospital consultant – and her boss. Also in her team is the smug, 24-year-old junior doctor he had the affair with.
Completing the trio is surgeon Catherine (Lara), a single mum desperate to get back to work after having baby Eli from a fling with visiting surgeon Lars. She is rapidly discovering motherhood has put her at a disadvantage to her male peers.
And she is in direct competition for a consultant job with another ex.
“I’ve only ever wanted to be a surgeon,” she says, after a sobbing female consultant advises her to retrain. “Then why did you become a mother?” comes the reply.
It’s a hard pill to swallow, but a nod to the realities of our unequal world.
And Catherine’s mum won’t help either – she has pilates, Nordic walking and choir to prioritise.
Witty, moving and compelling, with the perfect number of eye rolls, this is a timely love letter to the strained NHS that rolls out big plots and big feelings.
It’s also authentic. When Catherine tells Lars she got pregnant, she confirms: “I’m not here to tell you I had a termination, it’s not Hollyoaks.”
Delivering humour alongside emotional stories, the juggle is real – and this drama knows it.
