BIRTH: The Musical // NLPG Supporting Materials
A raw, darkly funny, and musically rich exploration of modern parenthood, told through the eyes of a couple thrown into the chaos of a high-risk pregnancy. From peeing on a stick to the NICU waiting room, it unpacks the physical, emotional, and systemic realities of birth today. With chorus lines of midwives, lactation consultants, and snarky grandparents, this is not your Hollywood birth story—it’s messier, more musical, and far more true.
The Music
Here’s a 3-minute compilation of snippets from early song ideas from BIRTH, written by Robert Moutrey & Sam Asbury, performed by Sam Asbury. These are rough demos from the writing room – not final arrangements – but they give a flavour of the musical world we’re building.
The images on this page are AI-generated concept sketches. They aren’t production designs or casting – just a way for us to explore the mood of the show. As the project develops, these ideas will be replaced by real photos, design visuals and rehearsal shots.
The Story
BIRTH: The Musical is a sharp, irreverent, and deeply human new musical comedy about the myths, mess, and modern medical machinery of pregnancy and birth.
When Lucy and Gary’s contraception fails, they’re flung into a world of scans, dreams, and diagnoses. What begins as a rom-com twist quickly unravels into a complex journey through fetal growth restriction, pre-eclampsia, and neonatal intensive care. Along the way, they meet a kaleidoscope of characters – compassionate nurses, pompous doctors, outdated grandparents, yoga fanatics, and a singing lactation consultant – bringing their own truths and contradictions to the story of birth.
Told through punchy ensemble numbers, heartfelt duets, and brutally honest solos, the show blends comedy with quiet devastation. It’s at once a love story, a protest song, and a public health call to arms-drawing attention to the fragile, unequal, and too-often-sidelined experiences of new mothers and their babies.
As the world outside rages on with politics, war, and economy, BIRTH zooms in on the most radical act of all: supporting the beginning of life. Because how we treat our mothers, our midwives, and our tiniest citizens determines everything that comes after.
Unapologetically funny, emotionally tender, and politically charged, BIRTH is not a musical about having a baby. It’s about what kind of world that baby is born into-and what kind of society we dare to build.
The Context
The idea came about in October 2024 when I spent 4.5-months watching my daughter fight for her life. Born 3-months early, she wrestled with multiple collapsed lungs, jaundice, many blood transfusions, laser eye surgery and more. And yet, we were some of the lucky ones.
During my time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at UCLH, I witnessed extraordinary compassion and unimaginable pain. I saw the resilience of families living hour to hour, the quiet heroism of NHS staff, and the blurred line between tragedy and humour that helps people survive the unthinkable. Around 90,000 babies are born sick or premature in the UK each year; this project uses song, comedy and theatricality to explore this space, questioning our obsession with control and what it really means to bring life into the world.
We want to offer parents who have endured neonatal journeys something that resonates with them. And we want to comically skewer the sanitised “Hollywood birth” narrative for prospective parents and wider audiences, getting real about how bloody, messy, unpredictable birth can be. This story is widely recognisable: the desire to start a family, the shock when things don’t go to plan, and the way love, fear and humour coexist under pressure. It will resonate with NICU parents and expectant parents, but also with parents
of parents, couples considering having children, friends and family members, and clinical staff – as well as audiences who simply love musicals (especially new British ones).
Through an absurd blend of music, laughter and tears we hope to create an experience that invites understanding for families and respect for NHS staff, and opens up more honest conversations about birth and early parenthood, and gives audiences a great night out.