Channel 4
One Born Every Minute
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Summary
One Born Every Minute (Life Begins) was a BAFTA nominated, ground-breaking, multi-platform project that celebrated what it really feels like to become a parent by providing a uniquely intimate insight into a bustling maternity hospital with a rig of forty remote cameras.
Filming from the reception desk to the neo-natal ward, from the operating theatre to the birthing pool, it observed the dramatic, emotional and often funny moments that go hand in hand with bringing a new life into the world, from the perspective of the soon-to-be parents and family, as well as the maternity ward staff.
Client quote
Adam Gee, Channel 4’s new media commissioner for factual, says, “In the same way that the TV show provides a unique insight into a place we don’t normally get to see in action until it is too late to be of use to us, the Life Begins website gives an insight into the realities of giving birth which just wasn’t out there before. Using our uniquely intimate behind-the-scenes video footage, as well as a wealth of first-hand experiences shared by users, the emphasis has been on showing how expectations and reality actually compare when it comes to giving birth in hospital.”
Details
The TV show was produced by Dragonfly and was integrated with Airlock’s online initiative that provided an easy to use, engaging insight for prospective parents into the realities of giving birth, with a wealth of video and interactivity.
The site provided content that was interesting to a broad range of people including existing parents, would-be parents and casual users. As often as possible we put users at the heart of the activity: we created a comparison tool that asked mothers to tell us about their experiences of birth either side of the event, we asked couples to compare their thoughts on what was actually going to happen on the day of the birth via a Facebook app and we gave parents a place to highlight amazing midwives who had saved the day and made their birth special. We also tracked birth announcements on Twitter and exposed them on a dynamic map and we created a birth certificate engine that was personalised with the key facts of the day. This was all underpinned with the ability to comment and share thoughts on all the content across the site.
The site was promoted from the broadcast in the closing moments of each show with a clear call to action to visit the site with a visual of the site shown. The site was also promoted on the C4 website, 4oD, YouTube and on TV trails.
The site was launched ahead of the broadcast in early February. The site received upwards of 200,000 page views on the nights of the transmission, which remained consistent across all episodes, showing the value of having strong digital extensions for projects such as these. The site has had 5 million page views since its launch with an average time on site of 6 minutes.
