'The Pitt’ Delivered a Birth Scene Unlike Anything on TV

This week’s episode of The Pitt featured what may be a television first: a well-shot, realistic depiction of an emergency baby delivery. Typically, these scenes focus on the mother’s experience, but here, the camera captured the medical side of the birth. The baby became stuck partway through delivery, and we saw Dr. Robby carefully maneuver to assist. It was an intense and strikingly realistic moment—having witnessed a similar birth firsthand, I was impressed by its authenticity. It was also raw and unfiltered, likely leaving many viewers shaken by a depiction of childbirth that wasn’t sanitized for television.

It was one of two viscerally intense patient cases this week, the other involving a woman with severe liver damage due to Hepatitis, coughing up so much blood that doctors had to insert a tube down her throat to clear it. Paired with a patient suffering from opioid withdrawal who refused to acknowledge his drug use, this episode maintained the show’s intensity. However, this week leaned more into the struggles of the doctors and nurses as the hospital inches toward crisis.

That was episode 11. One hour remains in the shift. There are 15 episodes total. No one is walking away at the end of their shift.

A major factor in that looming disaster is the influx of gunshot victims from Pittfest, an all-day concert where Robby’s sort-of stepson, Jake, is in attendance. (We learn this episode that Robby has maintained a close relationship with the child of a woman he was once involved with long-term.) Whether Jake or his girlfriend will be among the injured remains to be seen, but as we’ve witnessed with Dr. McKay and her ex-husband, the doctors’ personal lives have a way of colliding with their work.

That’s not the only burden weighing on Robby this week. Dr. Collins is still reeling from a miscarriage she suffered just hours before helping deliver a baby. What we do learn is that neither Robby, Langdon, nor anyone else in the hospital was responsible for her pregnancy — Dr. Collins had undergone IVF. Now, after this loss, she’s questioning whether she can keep trying. It’s too expensive, insurance won’t cover it, and she’s emotionally exhausted. Robby urges her to go home and rest, but with gunshot victims incoming — and with Langdon having been sent home last week — I suspect she’ll be called back in. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dr. Langdon returns, too. Robby isn’t going to be able to handle what’s coming alone, especially if Jake is involved.

Meanwhile, Nurse Dana — who was punched two hours ago but insisted on finishing her shift — is struggling. She tells Robby she’s done. Whatever happens in the next few episodes, I hope it convinces her that not only is she desperately needed but that the work she’s doing matters.

And what’s coming after the gunshot victims from Pittfest may be even worse. The potential victims of a potential school shooter — whose whereabouts remain unknown — could be next. His mother has finally agreed to have him placed on an involuntary hold, but I fear it’s too late. This season has felt like it’s been building toward a tragedy of that magnitude.

The real question is whether we can handle it. I love this show; it’s my favorite on television right now. But what I love most is its authenticity. I just hope the final four episodes don’t lean too far into spectacle because this show — which has been remarkably character-driven for all the blood involved — certainly doesn’t need it.