UKTV has commissioned The Real Midwives of Essex (8×60’) from Firecracker Films for W, exploring the professional and social lives of Basildon University Hospital’s midwives.

The team behind The Real Midwives of Essex has been granted exclusive access to the hospital – part of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.

The subjects comprise a mix of student midwives, their teachers, and newly-qualified midwives, following their early-starts and 12-hour shifts, through to their home lives and evenings out together.

Midwives are able to qualify after just three years, making them some of the youngest medical professionals in Britain.

The Real Midwives of Essex was commissioned by Helen Nightingale, head of factual and factual entertainment and ordered by Adam Collings, channel director for W and Hilary Rosen, director of commissioning. Produced by Firecracker Films, with Jes Wilkins and Sam Emmery serving as executive producers, Coco MacLehose as series producer and Julie Scott as head of production.

Nightingale said: “Following our successful collaboration with Firecracker on Emma Willis: Delivering Babies, we are extremely excited about this opportunity to shed light on even more of Britain’s most unsung heroes. The Real Midwives of Essex will also take the audience behind the scenes to see what these young midwives get up to beyond their professional roles.”

Emmery added: “We are delighted to be working with the team at UKTV on this exciting new series. We are also incredibly grateful to Basildon University Hospital for granting us privileged access to their maternity ward and are looking forward to introducing viewers to an amazing group of midwives.”