Pregnancy in the movies

Unexpected pregnancies or the emotional tolls of pregnancy are common fodder for Hollywood writers. Many popular and acclaimed films have featured pregnant leads. Perhaps it’s because the trials and tribulations of pregnancy can be funny (when they’re over) and all the uncomfortable suffering is forgotten. Or perhaps it’s because the end result is a beautiful baby that everyone loves. Or maybe because the ending usually features the reconciliation of our protagonist and the new mom.

It’s hard to say why pregnancy is so beloved on film....but whatever’s caused the maternity time to become so popular in movies (and TV) it’s most likely not going any where any time soon.

So we’ve gathered a list of some of our favorite maternity, pregnancy, and new mom movies. They’re good to watch before, during, and after pregnancy. Because even though most focus on the funny side, they all include some bits of truth and reality, and can help new parents gear up for what to expect when they’re expecting (and afterwards).

She’s Having a Baby

A John Hughes classic from the late eighties, it features Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern as newlyweds that are unprepared for marriage and pregnancy.

Knocked Up

Released in 2007, it follows the unlikely coupling of Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl after a one night stand produces unexpected results.

Juno

Ellen Page and Michael Cera discover the consequences of teen canoodling and are faced with making very grown-up decisions.

Baby Mama

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler come together to portray the awkward scenarios of surrogacy and pregnancy.

Junior

Fertility researchers, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito, conceive of a crazy experiment to impregnate a man (Arnold). We see the the issues of pregnancy through a different perspective.

Father of the Bride Part II

His oldest daughter married and pregnant with his first grandchild, George Banks (Steve Martin) is already beginning to face a mid-life crisis when life throws a curve ball. His wife, Nina (Diane Keaton) suspects she is going through menopause, only to find out she’s going to be a mommy again.

Nine Months

Hugh Grant and Julianne Moore play a longtime couple, with an uncomplicated lifestyle, when an unexpected pregnancy forces them to re-evaluate their lives and their relationship.

Waitress

Keri Russell plays Jenna, an unhappily-married small-town waitress who happens to make amazing pies. When she discovers she’s pregnant, she feels trapped by her abusive husband, but finds comfort with the new doctor in town, who just happens to be her OB/GYN.

3 Men and a Baby

Three big-city bachelors with active social lives find themselves in over their heads when they have to take care of a baby left by one of their former girlfriends. As they navigate late-night feedings, diapers, and bath time, they realize that the baby is worth the effort, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to keep her in their lives.

Baby Boom

Diane Keaton is the definition of yuppie when she inherits a baby from a relative. After originally trying to find a suitable couple to adopt the baby girl, she discovers that the baby is attached to her, and she can’t let her go. After some career low-points, she discovers a way to be a mogul and a mommy.

Look Who’s Talking

Kirstie Alley stars as Mollie, a career-minded woman in a relationship with a married man. When she becomes pregnant, her married boyfriend shows little interest in being a father to the baby. In labor and rushing to the hospital, she meets James (John Travolta), a cab driver who ends up being a father-figure to her new son Mikey. The narration by “Mikey” (voiced by Bruce Willis) takes us through the pregnancy and Mikey’s first few months.

Babies

This documentary follows a year in the life of four babies from around the world, highlighting the differences in how babies are raised from Mongolia to San Francisco to Tokyo to Namibia.

Life as We Know It

Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel are the best friends of a couple who just had a baby, and they don’t exactly get along. When their friends unexpectedly die in an accident, they find that they have been entrusted to raise the baby - together. While they learn to take care of a baby, they also discover they have become a family.

Fools rush in

Alex (Matthew Perry) is a New Yorker sent to Manhattan to oversee the building of a new nightclub. After a one-night stand with Isabel (Salma Hayek) results in pregnancy, they decide to get married. Cultural differences, family pressure, and a disagreement over where to raise the baby threaten to break them up, but when the baby is born, they realize what truly matters.

Away we go

John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph play a couple who is expecting their first child. They decide to travel around the US, looking for the perfect place to start their family.

What to expect when you’re expecting

Inspired by the bestselling book of the same name, this movie looks at five interconnected couples navigating the pregnancy/childbirth/new baby gauntlet, showing how the experience is different for everyone. It can be joyous, exhausting, scary, horrifying, sad, painful and amazing - often all at the same time.

Aug 31, 2012
By: serena jones


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