21 Pregnancy Movies

Mama, it’s time for some me-time. Switch off your brain and turn on the TV. Here, we’re sharing the best pregnancy movies — and some that are admittedly less good — to keep you entertained, inspired, and supported throughout the 40 weeks.

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What films can a pregnant lady watch?

With its wondrous, joyful highs and challenging lows — not to mention all those fun things that happen to your body — pregnancy makes a great subject for films.

And over nine months, you might even find time to watch them all.

Here are our favorite movies about pregnancy and bringing up babies.

12 Pregnancy Movies

1. What to Expect When You’re Expecting (2012). The most star-studded of all the pregnancy comedies. Cameron Diaz, J-Lo, Elizabeth Banks, and Anna Kendrick navigate the challenges, surprises, delights, and pains of pregnancy.
2. Knocked Up (2007). Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl have a one-night stand, and the rest is history. A fun, critically acclaimed comedy about an unexpected pregnancy.
3. Juno (2007). What’s the movie called where the girl gets pregnant? We’re guessing you mean Juno--a coming-of-age pregnancy movie with Elliot Page and Michael Cera.
4. The Back-Up Plan (2010). Jennifer Lopez decides to take on mamahood alone but then meets farmer hunk, Alex O’Loughlin. Is it up there with the best movies about pregnancy? Probably not. Is it fun? Definitely.
5. Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016). Bridget Jones does the Bridget Jones thing, but this time she’s pregnant and unsure about the dad. Lots of fun.
6. Baby Mama (2008). High-flying businesswoman Tina Fey hires wacky, irresponsible Amy Poehler to be her surrogate mother. Hilarity ensues.
7. Away We Go (2009). A couple expecting a child travels across the US to find the perfect place to start their family. Cute, heartwarming, a lovely way to spend a couple of hours.
8. Nine Months (1995). Julianne Moore tells Hugh Grant, a smooth dude with a fast car and fears of commitment, that she’s pregnant. Cue freak out. But over the next nine months, he matures into his role as a father-to-be.
9. She’s Having a Baby (1988). High-school sweethearts become suburban newlyweds. Perhaps it’s less about pregnancy than about young marriage, but it’s fun, sweet, and touching.
10. For Keeps (1988). Molly Ringwald and Randall Batinkoff are two high schoolers in love — and then she discovers she’s pregnant. A predictable plot perhaps, but an important film for tackling the bigger themes of pregnancy, like postpartum depression.
11. Maybe Baby (2000). Some of the biggest names in British comedy star in a movie about TTC (that’s trying to conceive). We wish it were a better movie — but there are a couple of laughs in there.
12. The Pregnancy Pact (2010). A group of high-school girls decides to get pregnant, give birth, and raise their children together. It’s based (loosely) on true events.

4 films about bringing up babies

And for when pregnancy movies aren’t hitting the spot, here are some baby movies to prepare you for when the little one enters the scene.

1. The Switch (2010). Jennifer Aniston opts to conceive with the help of a sperm bank. Her friend, Jason Bateman — who’s incidentally in love with her — swaps her sample for his own. Potentially creepy premise but a cute movie about father-son bonding.
2. Neighbors (2014). A fraternity led by Zac Efron moves into a house next door to Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, and their brand new baby. You can imagine what happens next.
3. The Boss Baby (2017). A film that deserves a category all its own. The Boss Baby is an animated comedy about a suit-wearing secret agent baby who is definitely in charge.
4. Raising Arizona (1987). Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter steal a baby. Does it count as a feel-good baby movie? It’s fun, smart, and unique — but probably not for everyone.

5 documentaries about pregnancy and babies

Let’s put the fictional pregnancy movies aside for now.

Here are five documentaries about pregnancy that will inspire.

1. Babies (2010). This follows four babies for their first two years — in Namibia, Japan, the US, and Mongolia. It’s a beautiful exploration of baby development and cultural differences.
2. First Comes Love (2013). A documentary about having a baby by yourself in your 40s, from the filmmaker Nina Davenport.
3. 40 Weeks (2014). Following 13 families through pregnancy, 40 Weeks explores the expectations and surprises across the whole period of pregnancy.
4. The Beginning of Life (2016). An inspiring documentary of how the earliest years of life can have a profound impact on what happens later.
5. 9 Months That Made You (2016). A CGI masterpiece that traces a baby’s development in the womb from conception to birth.

Do you have any favorite pregnancy movies that we’ve missed?

Let us know over at the Peanut community!

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