Films that portray childbirth with a moment of light panting followed by images of women airbrushed and made-up cuddling quiet newborns make women feel like failures according to actress Tilda Swinton, 50, who was talking at the Cannes Film Festival.

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The star, herself the mother of twin teenage sons, says that childbirth is romanticised on television and in films.

“In the movies where people have babies and particularly in television films, they are sitting in a hospital bed with flowers everywhere, beautifully made up, they have a baby in their arms and it is all lovely,” she says.

“Anyone who has been in that zone will know it’s a total fiction. Giving birth is a violent [thing to go through]. It is a bloody business having a family.”

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Miss Swinton who stars in the new film adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s book We Need To Talk About Kevin playing the mother of a murderous son, clearly hasn’t yet discovered PB favourite, One Born Every Minute! Channel 4, Mondays at 9pm. It is about as real as programmes about childbirth come!

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