Archers thread #140: Changing rooms at Brookfield with Leonard Llewellyn-Bowen, or saving souls with St Smugula in the heathen wastelands of the North? Discuss The Archers here!

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

All views on The Archers welcome here! New blood welcomed. We don't all agree on all points and most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you think a stained glass window marking the birth of newborn twins is just what Ambridge needs, or other unusual views.

Spoilers: not on this thread, please. We don't wait for the omnibus to discuss the weeknight episodes, but we do try our best to avoid cross-contamination from www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/4636789-the-archers-spoilers-thread-7-cant-wait-for-702pm-join-us-here, where spoilers are positively welcomed!

For newer listeners, lurkers or those who just have no idea what we're talking about, @DadDadDad has created this useful thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3557323-For-Archers-fans-a-guide-to-acronyms-on-the-long-running-discussion-threads-and-any-other-meta-thread-questions-you-may-have - BOOP point for him! (See thread for explanation.)

Title composed in haste, making use of @Octothorpe's lovely coinage of Leonard Llewellyn-Bowen and @TheLassWiADelicateAir's terrific description of St. Smugula's mission to the heathen wasteland of far flung Sunderland, both from the last thread

I've abandoned the use of an emoji in the title, having been alerted by another thread recently to the fact that it makes it difficult for people with visual problems to use assistive software.

I won't say much more about The Archers, as I'm still feeling extremely jaundiced about the programme at the moment. Fingers crossed it takes a turn for the better over the next few days. It was good to hear Helen, Lee and Joy again tonight. Less delighted to hear the loathsome George. What a numpty not to recognise pheasant chicks! His Dad would be far from impressed.

Over to you!

And all the stuff you see online and in books will be based on this. So if you see one of those charts that compares the size of your baby to a piece of fruit or whatever, they don't usually start until 4 weeks, by which time the embryo is around 2 weeks into its development.

Gosh, I just want Chelsea to make a decision now either way... all this faffing around is driving me nuts!!

In my slightly but not massively informed view there is no way SS would take the baby into care immediately.
They might conceivably put the baby on a needing support register but she has a supportive family, still lives at home, doesn't do drugs, there is no reason for the baby to go into care.
Unless she says she doesn't want to parent of course.

I agree. The midwife might have thought that SS should be informed, but if they do get involved then Chelsea's nowhere near the threshold for having the baby removed from her care. They might signpost her to a parenting programme and monitor her more closely than average, but taking the baby away would be a massive overreaction and completely unbelievable.

but taking the baby away would be a massive overreaction and completely unbelievable.

Fairly guaranteed then 😏

I agree it would be utterly mad to take the baby away at birth, I think that generally only happens with parents who are manifestly unable to parent eg severe drug addicts/people in incredibly difficult circumstances, or those whose previous kids have been removed. Chelsea is just young, reluctant and not very well off. Ie pretty normal.

@Roysnewshirt I definitely wouldn't be able to resist gossiping with my SIL about spotting Tracy outside the midwife's room.

on another note I’ve been very much enjoying the 1981 version of Cold Comfort Farm on bbc sounds - Patricia Gallimore (Pat) as Flora showing how great she must have sounded before she just kept sighing all the time.

Wishing suzyscat a speedy recovery.

Even if Chelsea didn't know/understand how pregnant she was, three other (reasonably smart) young adults must have had a pretty good idea. One of them is a trainee nurse, for goodness sake! They all grew around farm animals.

I would expect a prospective father/potential stepmother and concerned housemate of both to have done a bit of googling. Certainly Beth should have had a quick look before she went to for haircut.

I remember listening to that when I was pregnant. I must look it up on Sounds.

I don't blame Tracey or the others for not knowing how pregnancies are dated. I don't think most people realise until they or a close person are pregnant, and it always seems absolutely bonkers counterintuitive even when you do know (especially like with Chelsea or IVF when they know full well when conception took place). Have to admit I had no idea until my cousin was training as a midwife and even then I initially thought she'd got the wrong end of the stick

*Chelsea obviously not Tracey

She's also quite thick, stubborn, ill-informed and unwilling to take advice.

Not criteria for removal but criteria for intervention/supervision?

That poster might have been me
I said at the end of September

The rave was 1st July so she's coming up to 13 weeks from the actual date of conception but as pregnancies are counted from the first day of last period she would be at least 14 or 15 weeks now.

^^

I definitely wouldn't be able to resist gossiping with my SIL about spotting Tracy outside the midwife's room.

Oh thank goodness! Was beginning to worry I was the only person on here with Radio Carter tendencies…

I think that describes much of the human race tbh, I’m at least 2 of those myself

Ugh Helen is doing her old “but little Henry wants to win the competition” act again. The SWs can’t have it both ways, a little hooligan listening to drill and earnestly entering into village competitions for best pudding and church window.

@TheHideAndSeekingHill , me too probably.

I don't know if I'd have mentioned seeing Tracey but I suspect many would have

Admittedly I now have a strapping teen, but I am sure the midwife faffed about with a tape measure from top of my pubic bone to somewhere to date things?

I was one of those weirdos who was declared 23 weeks pregnant at what we thought was going to be a 12 week dating scan (at about what we thought was 13/14 weeks).

@BeardieWeirdie , I thought it was Jack. I wasn't really listening though.
She makes everything about her or her children.

Chelsea is patently not fit to look after a baby on her own. Her behaviour throughout this nonsense has shown that.

And speak for yourself but when it came to looking after my baby I was none of thick, stubborn, ill-informed or unwilling to take advice.

Bleugh! I really did NOT need to hear Lee talking about the bubbles caressing Helen’s (thunder) thighs in the hot-tub…

I heard “Jack” too. How crass.

Ah maybe it was Jack, that would make more sense. Still, she is still the worst kind of parent. You just know she write in to complain that her little darlings only got to play Third Shepherd and never Joseph in the school nativity.

No. He called it Prodosia when he intended to get Lily’s family’s gallery to sell, in a particularly nasty bit of calculated cruelty.