House of the Dragon producer didn’t want birth scenes to feel the same

The first season of House of the Dragon pushed a lot of boundaries for TV. Structurally, it dared to tell a story spread over 20 years with multiple actors playing the same characters. Like Game of Thrones before it, it was on the cutting edge of VFX technology. And it was bracing in its depiction of birth, giving us four birth scenes that were more honest and direct than what we’re generally used to seeing on TV.

That was intentional, as producer Sara Hess told TheWrap. “The first season is compressed time, and many children are born during the course of the story, so it was kind of a back and forth about are we going to show all these births? Is it going to be boring?” Hess said. “That definitely was a thing that I felt very strongly about because I felt like every birth scene I’ve ever seen in any TV show or movie ever has looked exactly the same, which is the woman’s lying on her back — whatever time period — and she’s like on her back pushing, and then the baby comes out. And it’s like, ‘Oh, congratulations.’”

"I was saying to the guys, like every birth I’ve ever heard about from my friends or experienced is they’re all completely different. They are a different experience depending on the woman who’s doing it and what the circumstances are. That is a part of a woman’s story that I feel is just completely sort of blandified in popular entertainment."

You definitely could not call the birth scenes on House of the Dragon bland. They were some of the most memorable parts of the first season, and the most brutal. “One of our themes on the show, which I think [showrunners Ryan and Miguel Sapochnik] have probably talked about before, is that the birth in that time period was the woman’s battlefield,” Hess continued. “So the men are out doing their fighting with swords, and for a woman it was, you know, every time you’re pregnant, this could be the day you die. And you’re going into battle to sort of preserve the human race.”

We likely won’t see many more birth scenes in House of the Dragon season 2 and beyond

House of the Dragon is based on George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood. The show will change starting in season 2; now that we’ve reached the brink of all-out war, there shouldn’t be any more time jumps, nor will there be more childbirths.

But the birth scenes from season 1 have made their mark, and in some cases even helped to get people thinking about reproductive rights. “A lot of people have said, ‘Oh, my God, this is making me feel differently about abortion rights.’ Because when you see what it really is and what you are forcing a woman to go through in all its graphic grimness, if you don’t want to do that, that’s a kind of horrific thing to put somebody through,” Hess said.

The second season of House of the Dragon likely won’t premiere until 2024.

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