‘Maternity Ward’ Delivers a Bonus

Cable’s Learning Channel comes up with back-to-back programs focusing on the work of dedicated physicians.

“Maternity Ward,” which airs as an ongoing series of specials, visits the Birth Center at UC San Francisco in an hour titled “A Long Road.”

The 9 p.m. documentary includes a profile of Dr. Bill Parer, an Australian known for his work in fetal heart monitoring. Another segment follows an obstetrician whose skills are tested during the premature delivery by a woman who contracted a food-related illness. And another surgeon comforts a family who knows that the infant they’re expecting has a serious heart defect.

At 10 p.m., the documentary “About Face” follows the fortunes of people who, due to birth or accident, have undergone extensive cranio-facial surgery.

One of these individuals suffers from Jackson-Weiss syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes the face to be flat. Another patient lost half her face to a gunshot wound when she was 4 years old.