Stories about miscarriage and pregnancy loss can be underrepresented on screen, and Cullen hopes this show will create “a space for someone to share”.
Essiedu attributes the lack of conversation around these topics to a broader discomfort around grief.
“There’s a sensitivity around any kind of grief and an assumption that those questions shouldn’t be asked,” explains the 35-year-old. “That can lead to there being stigma and shame around the topic, and that’s when people feel isolated and alone.”
He credits the writer and director, Stefan Golaszewski, for creating a show that at it’s core has “such humility and honest”.
Golaszewski’s other series writing credits include Bafta-winning BBC comedies Mum and Him & Her, along with the BBC drama Marriage.
Speaking to the BBC, Golaszewski says he’s been through similar experiences to those dealt with in the show. However it’s not an autobiographical account of his life so he was “able to create something more objectively dramatic”.
“I was aware of the good and positivity that can come from opening up about this subject matter that’s so difficult to talk about.”
He hopes the show will “create a space where people can feel less alone” as issues such as miscarriages “have a stigma around it”.
He adds that sometimes issues such as pregnancy loss are often medicalised, so there’s a disconnect between someone’s experience of grief – and how others perceive it.
In contrast to the fast-paced dramas audiences may be more familiar with, Babies lingers in the quiet – the pauses, the unfinished conversations and the things left unsaid between its characters.
Golaszewski explains it’s not intentional and he’s showing that “the truth of grief is that it is banal”.
“Your heart is blown to pieces but do you still need to eat dinner and go to work so I’m not stylistically chasing silence, just representing the truth of it.”