Call the Midwife

Enjoying Call the Midwife. Hilarious and sad. Reminds me of what nursing used to be like.

JessM, that was Daphne, wife of Des Clark, the bank manager, money bank, not river bank!

I love this series but have to keep reminding myself that I was around 10 years old and had been born by the time it was set. I rarely read a book of a TV series (or vice versa) but read the book in a day. It showed me how good the TV adaptation is and how true to the book. For once they are recognising that life can be sad and there isn't always a happy ending & it shouldn't be sanitised. Jenny Worth provides good lessons in how she dealt with such times. The added value of the book is the historical & political context of midwifery. How those early midwives were treated & vilified by many unenlightemed doctors was appalling but so similar to other scenario involving women. It's nice to hear that some men are watching but I fear those who really need to understand 'female' issues won't - childbirth and early years are still so often seen as the province of women and therefore of lesser value.

Afraid you're right, gadabout - "he (and I do mean "he") that hath ears, let him hear.) Huh!

Ah number do you remember her alfresco delivery?

You're right GadaboutGran, it's quite a sobering thought that these events, for us (well, you and me at least), are not historical, but happened well within our lifetime - and within the reign of the Queen. What changes these 60 years have seen! As I said in an earlier post, my neighbour was one of those very midwives, which really brings it all home to me.

Yes, how come my lifetime has become history?

Yes, JessM, it was quite a talking point at the time!
I had my third baby in 1967, in hospital, because of problems, and the local paper sent a photographer to snap all of us who`d had babies on New Years Day. There were three of us in that hospital, but only two of us were in the photo. When I asked why, I was told that the other girl was an unmarried mother, and it would never do for her picture to be in the newspaper! I ask you, and this was 1967!!!

My DD had a moan recently about the fact that the girl in the flat below hers had just given birth and had screamed the whole block down for hours. I don't recall screaming or shouting myself (swearing maybe

Sorry, that was a comment on greatnan's post on Friday. Read too quickly - I should not be here, I should be in the attic. Clearing. And looking forward to tonight's episode.

I`ve just seen last Sunday`s episode, always a week behind, that`s me! Wasn`t it a sad episode? Obviously the writers have read all the books in the trilogy, because the stories are intermingled.

numberplease I did midwifery training at a well known London maternity hospital and I was working there on New Year's Day 1967.I remember the photographer coming to take photos of the New Year babies and one was born to unmarried mother.She and her baby were not allowed to be on the photos.

It wasn`t just in Bury where they had that rule then? So silly.

Oh how sad. I was a new year baby and was in the paper. My mum had had so many miscarriages she said if she had a baby that lived it would be on the front page of the papers, and I was! Tonight's episode was so sad, but I found it terribly moving. Last week's just made me feel miserable.

I`ve lost my copy of the newspaper that me and my daughter were in, also on the front page, tried to get a copy of the photo from the newspaper concerned, but they don`t keep them for that long, surprising, I thought all papers had archives, it was only 1967! I got in touch with the local library, they had a copy, sent me a photo, but it was photo-copied and useless, very smudgy.

When I trained as a midwife(did not practice though) and when I was having my own babies in 1969 and 1972 all the single girls were addressed as Mrs as well as the married ones.Some wore wedding rings while they were in hospital as they said they felt stigmatised without one.
My sister was an unmarried mother in 1968.My parents forced her to give her son up for adoption as it was ''for the best''.She cried for a week after she parted with him.She later married and had two daughters.Two years ago she became a great grandmother when one of her grandaughters had a baby boy.Her grandaughter was 18 the same age as her when she had her son.Her grandaughter is single and keeping her baby.It has brought it home to her how things have changed.She has never forgotten her baby boy who will be 44 this year.

Pinkprincess, how sad for your sister,has she never tried to find her son?

Pinkprincess - awful, indeed. I had my eldest daughter when I was 16. It was as you said, and every mother was called 'Mrs' - and when I corrected the nurse saying "No - Miss, not Mrs", she was quite taken aback at my nerve, I think! My baby was to be adopted. My mother and father had agreed that this was how it should be, and I don't remember being consulted. The day after I gave birth to my daughter, a young nurse brought her to me, saying "Here's your baby, Mrs S". I said that I wasn't allowed to have her, because she was to be adopted - my parents had stated that I shouldn't be allowed to get 'close' to her. The young nurse replied that my baby needed a cuddle from her mum....that was that - smitten! I fought tooth and nail to keep my daughter (literally, actually!) and she's now 45 and married with her own daughter. I consider myself to be so very lucky.

Thanks goodness you had that cuddle green!

I often wonder if that young nurse got into trouble for that! She definitely WAS an angel!

Thank God attitudes have changed so completely towards unmarried mothers. My mother never stopped censuring them yet when her favourite neice had a baby but no husband she said, "Well, it's different when it's your own family".
Astounding!

Can`t do the smlieys, but Greenmossgiel, xxxx

Thank you numberplease. xx

nanapug You are famous your comments have been discussed concerning the Triumph Bra worn in "Call the midwife" has a two page spread in Mail on Sunday they are writing about the the accusation's of error's that where out of tune era.Pages 34/35 in Femail