MORGANA'S TRUIMPH I'VE GOT ALL OF NZ BEHIND ME!

The Mean Mums actress is sinking her teeth into juicy new parts in Friends Like Her and The White Lotus

- Leena Tailor

It's not too often women are heard raving about how much they love going into labour, but Kiwi actress Morgana O'Reilly is a proud birth-loving geek who's determined to change perceptions about welcoming babies into the world.

"I'm a birth nerd," chuckles the mum of two, who will star in the next season of hit US drama The White Lotus. "In another life, I'd be a midwife. I'd love to give birth again especially if I didn't have to do all the harder stuff that comes after!"

Morgana's love for labour made her perfect for the new series Friends Like Her. Having starred in local comedy Mean Mums and Aussie soap Neighbours, the 38-year-old felt ready to take on a "juicy drama" She plays working mum Nicole, who becomes a surrogate for her bestie Tessa, but things take a dark turn after an earthquake strikes their hometown of Kaikōura.

In contrast, Morgana says her path to parenthood with filmmaker husband Peter Salmon, 48, was "peaceful". Daughter Luna, eight, and son Ziggy, five, arrived via water births, with Morgana vividly recalling the magical moment she witnessed Luna take her first breath.

"She sounded like she was finishing a milkshake, then I watched this purple blob looking around with dark eyes," she recalls. "Her lips turned red and her cheeks flushed pink as her body took on its own air. It was awesome!

"Meanwhile, Ziggy cried and I thought he was cold, so I swished water onto him, which maybe wasn't the best idea since birthing pool water isn't particularly clean!"

Morgana has since become passionate about spreading positive messages around giving birth.

"We're brought up being told it's the most pain you'll ever go through and, yes, it's intense, but we do uncomfortable things for future gain all the time. The biggest hindrance is fear, and my industry has a lot to answer for because on-screen depiction of birth is always horrific and involves a terrified woman.