Billericay actor challenges pregnancy stereotypes in new film

An actor says she was able to draw on her own pregnancy while writing and starring in a movie about a woman taking the plunge and dating during her third trimester.

Jade Asha, 36, from Billericay, Essex, who has been acting for more than 20 years, pitched the idea for Due Dating in the early stages of her own pregnancy and then spent three months writing the screenplay.

The film, which premieres in London next month, is described as a "bold and thought-provoking romantic comedy drama".

Mother-of-two Asha, whose son made a cameo appearance at the end of the movie, said: "As an actor you're always looking for interesting and new works."

While writing the story, Asha said she felt like she had a sense of responsibility to showcase pregnancy in a candid way.

The personal journey of a pregnant woman is rarely highlighted, she said.

"Usually what you see is the happy ending - but we don't see the amazing but scary nine months," she added.

Asha said she wanted to help women feel less alone during a vulnerable time and that showing her bump was very important to her.

"It did not look like a pretty bump - mine had stretch marks and veins showing," she said.

"You're still expected to be a pretty woman."

She got the original idea for the story from a targeted ad on social media about pregnant women dating. The comments, she said, were sharp-tongued and quick to condemn dating during pregnancy, with some offering condolences to the baby's father.

"As a pregnant woman there are all these things you are not allowed to do," Asha added.

"You've got to put yourself first, without the judgement."

The story follows Cherry, played by Asha, who becomes the muse of a blogger who has to change his lifestyle and learn how to write from a woman's perspective in order to keep his job.

She said the film explored whether pregnant women really had the right to their own autonomy.

"When I first fell pregnant, it took me by surprise, I had just got married, and it was a honeymoon baby," she told the BBC.

But working on the movie alongside her own pregnancy "meant we had a deadline so we had to do it - but it was also terrifying".

Doulas, midwives and anyone who works in maternity can watch the film for free at the movie's premiere on Leicester Square at the Prince Charles Theatre on 19 October.

Asha said: "We would just really love to have the people who keep the world ticking around and don't get thanks for it or maybe not as much as they should."

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