Call the Midwife

Oh yes, and the aeroplane! My husband picked that up straight away...I think I was still on here ! numberplease, couldn't you pop your earphones in? That should give you a good sound?

Loved it, I shall be watching it regularly,but on my own, DH started to but was too squeamish during the childbirth bits,and turned a little green

I have just watched it on replay and really enjoyed it,DH noticed the plane and I noticed the body vests with the poppers underneath hanging on the bannister,they did appear until the mid 60s I think.
Looking forward to seeing Miranda in the next episode looks like this will be a good serie's.

What were laundry baskets made of in those days then, before plastic? I still have a large (and very useful) washing up type bowl that was my Mum's and that's a hard plastic type, from the late 50s/early 60s.

Yummygran, laundry baskets were made of wicker. Washing up bowls and buckets were made of enamel.

green our washing up bowl at home in the mid 50s was white enamel with a blue trim around the edge,mum had pie dishes the same all different size's in fact I still have two small ones that I use for baking now.

Oh yes enamel, I'd forgotten that. I can remember my Nana's stone sink with only a cold tap! and the pantry with a thrawl to keep food cool. (I was born in 1957).

Not too sure that the plane and washing basket are ananchronisms. I have photographs of the Bristol Brabazon, taken by my Dad, dated 1952, which look remarkably similar to the plane shown in The Midwives. We were on holiday at Butlin's Ayr and there was great excitement when there was a Tannoy announcment that the plane would fly over the camp en route to Prestwick.

Also, we certainly had a plastic washing up bowl from as far back as I can remember. My mother used our old papier-mache baby bath for laundry, but I have a housekeeping manual from the fifties (I used to keep my scraps in it) which has a section on 'Plastics' and recommends a plastic washing basket as less likely to mark the clothes than a wicker one.

Isn't it great how these period dramas can take us right back to our childhood and rekindle memories?

I missed the programme but mean to catch up on i-player. Talking to my neighbour over the fence, I found that she was one of those very midwives in the 1950s and she was very impressed with the authenticity of the production.

I lived with my grandma from age 13 till I got married at 20, and she had a stone sink in the kitchen, it was quite long, but only about 2 inches deep, so a bowl was an essential, and we only had the one cold tap. She used to keep the sink clean round the edges by donkey stoning it, the same as her front doorstep, so it was important not to lean against it, or your clothes would end up rather messy!

The only memory it gave me was that bl***y rubber tube and jug for the enema at the beginning of labour....

Yes Annobel that was like the sink I can remember, the tap was really high up so used to splash everywhere.

I can still remember the big tin bath hanging outside on the wall, by the outside loo, but I can remember my baby bath was definately plastic, it had a teddy bear picture on the side. It was used for year afterwards for all sorts of things until it split!

The Bristol Brabazon flew low over our school. I must have been about 12, as I think I was in first year of secondary school - 1952 -53.

I was amazed how youthful and trim and young looking the woman who gave birth to 25 children was. It was surprising nobody had a quiet word with the husband regarding the use of condoms! He must have had a very good job to feed 27 people in their household.

I really enjoyed "Call the Midwife." My daughter had read it last autumn just before she had her first baby and told me it was good. I will wait until the series is finished before I read the book as I usually find that dramatisations of books that I have enjoyed ruin the book for me -"Lark Rise to Candleford" was dreadful.
There are still people living in squalid conditions in this country but hopefully most of them don't have to give birth in their home now!

Actually, out of my five births, the ones I most enjoyed were the last 2, where I was at home, vastly preferable to the hospital.

I had a home birth, much better because I was with family. When I had first baby in hosoital they did not allow husbands to attend.

My younger daughter was born at home, hardly interrupting our routine with other daughter. The birth was at night, but had it been daytime DD1 would have been allowed to come in or out at will. We were all so relaxed!

I have been reading in next week's Radio Times that Jennifer Worth had Miranda Hart in mind when writing her character, what a shame she did not live to see the outcome.

Two of my babies were born at home, in 1969 and 1971. So much better. The only stipulations for the one born in 1971 was that there had to be hot running water in the house, but it didn't seem to matter about that in 1969, which was just as well, because we only had a cold tap! The fact that there was no coal fire on which to dispose of the afterbirth did cause a problem for the 1971 birth - so it had to be buried in the garden!

I lived in the East End of London in the fifties. My first baby was born in 1956 and I feel that the care I received during pregnancy and birth was very good. I only saw part of the T.V. programme on Sunday,but it seemed to reflect the conditions of my grandmother's time. We had lived through the difficulties of the war and life was getting much better. The scene of the home birth was like something from the turn of the century.. It didn't reflect my experiences at all.

So glad nutmeg has said that. I was born in the East End and lived there in the fifties. Mum had me in hospital,considered normal for first child, sure we only had a cold tap, a tin bath and loo outside but we weren't dirty. Water was heated in the "copper" washing rung out on the mangle - if you folded it properly it saved quite a lot of ironing. Obviously there were families who didn't look after their houses and had lots of raggy kids but my grandmother would have had a fit if people thought she lived like that. it looked more like the 30's to me. The fogs were pretty grim though, you could taste themand smell them yuk!!

nutmeg I have attended births in the sixties and seventies in worse conditions than those shown. I vividly remember once when one of the numerous cats was giving birth to kittens on the table at the same time!

Greenmossgiel, re disposing of the afterbirth, we didn`t have an open fire then either, strangely, mine were in 1969 and 1971 as well, but the midwives took them away with them. Actually, there was a fashion a few years ago for cooking and eating the afterbirth, but wild horses couldn`t have dragged me to the dinner table if THAT had been on the menu!

Wasn't able to watch on Sunday and Iplayer is very unreliable on my laptop. Has anyone noticed if it's to be repeated anywhere before next Sunday?

On the topic of washing up bowls, my Mum had a very heavy plastic bowl in the early-mid fifties. She was so proud of it and, in fact, it was only thrown away when I cleared out their house in 2001 - by then it was relegated to the garage but was still, just about, in one piece. Her grandaughter now rejoices in using anything enamel
At first I thought Call the Midwife was set in the 30/40's and was very surprised when I realised it was the late 50's; but I still enjoyed it and am looking forward to Miranda next week.