With the NHS under increasing strain and further industrial action expected this year following nurses and ambulance staff striking in December over pay, we're all aware of the struggles our National Health Service has been facing in recent years and the knock-on effects of this. But what about all those individuals actually working for the institution? And what about all those who do it while raising a family at the same time?
Due to air this month, new ITV medical drama Maternal follows three female doctors returning to post-pandemic frontline medicine after maternity leave and having to heroically balance the intense demands of the NHS and motherhood.
"These are human beings first and foremost, they're not robots. They have thoughts and feelings," says actor Parminder Nagra who plays Dr Maryam Afridi in Maternal. "Yes, they have a job to do. And they took an oath, to uphold whatever they're doing but they are also living and breathing human beings that have families and work incredibly hard and have to juggle the things that these women are juggling within the show."
Having starred as a doctor in many of her previous roles for shows such as ER and Fortitude, you'd be forgiven for thinking Parminder would want to steer clear of another medical show. "I've played a few doctors before, it seems to be my niche!" she laughs. "But the thing that really attracted to me to Maternal was the humour in there and the drama of it, so it allowed me to do all of it. I do think it's important because I think that's real life, you can be going through the darkest moment in your life and then something will happen that will crack you and you'll be laughing the next second."
Many mums will relate to the three main characters as they wrestle with the outcomes of their decisions to return to work after maternity leave and attempt to balance their two roles.
Parminder's character Paediatric Registrar Maryam is full of doubt that she can cope with the emotional demands of treating children now that she has her own.
"The juggle is real, it is really real. In the first scene where you meet Maryam, she's wondering 'What if I really like going back to work?' and feeling guilty about that. But I suppose the journey of all those characters is that, what if one makes the other one better? It's not either-or," Parminder explains.
"What is right for you as a person and not what is right for everybody else. I don't even think that's just down to motherhood, actually, I think that's down to whoever you are. You have to really try and listen to where you're at in life and what you can give energy to and knowing that you might have a limitation at this point. 'If I can't give my all to something, and feel guilty or terrible about it, then I'm no good to anybody.' I think the core of all of these characters is not to lose their sense of self, and that their sense of self aids them in being better parents."
Although she's currently experiencing the teenage phase with her son Kai, it's not hard for Parminder to remember those early days with a newborn.
"I think it was more of a shock than I thought it was going to be, to be honest. I remember at one point, crying into a burp cloth. You're like, 'Oh my god, there's this little being that is completely reliant on me.' There's even a picture of me leaving the hospital, kind of looking at the camera, like, 'what do I do now? With this?'"
"It's a big adjustment. It's not just taking care of yourself. Everything is about making sure that that little person next to you is okay. And from the moment you conceive, you never stop worrying."
Maternal will air on ITV1 on Monday 16th January at 9pm. The full series will be available on ITVX once the first episode has aired.