Call The Midwife

[Daffodilly]

I'm sure after the Christmas special they said a new series would be starting in the New Year. So where is it?? [impatient]

you are right it means baby or small child isn't putting on weight or sickly

my nana wore trousers in the 60s she wore them for work and working round the house I have seen pictures she did a variety of jobs, it wasnt that unsual or radical although trixie wears them to be all glam bless her

You did as you were told, endured and hoped for a live baby. MrsDeVere

I think this is very true.

I think the Jenny character is snippy and haughty, but I also think the actress is one of those you fail to warm to.

Maybe Trixie could have played Jenny ? - I think Trixie is is a very good actress (but maybe a bit of the problem is not much of a character steer from the books, as others have said)

But if Jennifer Worth was a bit prim and proper, or maybe just from a sheltered background, which I get the impression she was, then the actress needs to play her as such.

I agree that they were far too upbeat about the CF - it would have been a pretty grim diagnosis in those days (and not great now, to be honest).

I also thought it unlikely that Chummy would have been able to perform a shoulder dystocia without any help or instruments, but I don't know enough about it to say for sure. DD laughed at me because I had my hand over my mouth in that scene.

When DD had shoulder dystocia it took two midwives doing something called 'Woods corkscrew manouvre' iirc, along with a third midwife in a riot mask and half a dozen other health care professionals, summoned by the emergency alarm, looking on 'just in case'. Briefly pushing on all fours and then lying on left hand side would have done nothing to get her out, although I guess it depends how stuck the baby was in CTMW.

The main reason why people with CF are surviving into their 30s and beyond nowadays was the recognition they needed a devoted specialist medical service for life. Even in 1994 when I joined NHS teenagers with CF were discharged from their specialist paediatricians to adult general consultants who didnt have the expertise needed to manage the condition effectively and we regularly watched each of our CF patients die by their early twenties. By 2000 most areas had a specialist adult CF service and surival rates and quality of life for CF sufferers increased accordingly.

I had shoulder dystocia with my DC and it was managed without help or instruments just a very fast change of position. It can be a bit of a panicky moment though, I have seen the hospital procedure which calls for the alarm, emergency team and episiotomy, glad I didn't get that.

I think Jennifer is portrayed very accurately in the series, she did consult on the script before she died and I'm sure she put people straight on anything she didn't feel was right, much like the speaking up on failure to thrive even though that does sound wrong to speak to a superior like that.

Sorry to be ignorant but as a lay person who had 3 normalish births what does shoulder dystocia mean?

Shoulder dystocia means (I think, please correct me if wrong) that the baby's head is born but then one or both shoulders get stuck. Usually caused by the position or size of the baby. Midwives have several manouvres they can try to get the baby out - McRoberts, Woods Corkscrew etc. As I understand they try each for 30 seconds, and have about a 3 minute window before there is a risk of oxygen starvation to the baby. Emergency C Section is a last resort as they would have to pull the baby back up the birth canal.

Thanks but surely the baby will still be breathing through the placenta? I do remember the MW scrabbling about (sorry TMI) to get DS's shoulders out ,it bloody hurt but she didn't cut me.

Oh I see thanks SuffolkNWhat So there was maybe a risk when DS was born ?because the MW managed it really well with no panic TG for her.

I think it varies enormously from delivery to delivery. Given my limited knowledge, what Chummy did looked pretty text book to me - mum on all fours first - position which gives more room in the pelvis, that didn't work so on to the next position. Goodness knows how she was going to do http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McRoberts_maneuver McRoberts by herself but the story didn't require that. There was a (completely terrifying) episode of one born where the woman got a dystocia whilst in theatre having forceps. I cried all through it watching it (wuss) but basically it was an example of how this is managed in that setting - more people than you can shake a stick at and continual constructive changes of position etc to get the baby out whilst somebody keeps time. They got the baby out ok but broke her clavicle doing so. Better than a dead baby.

That's fascinating northern midwives really are very skilled people and need much more recognition IMO both financially and basically. Nice to meet on another thread too how are you?

I'm fine thanks.

Very interesting explanations of how to do a shoulder dystocia delivery - thanks, all. I could never be a midwife - it was making me anxious just reading the explanations.

Mumzy - that's heartbreaking about CF.

Watched it on iplayer. Really really great. I thought I might be getting tired of it towards the end of the last series but it was so poignant and well done and not overly sentimental. Just spot on imo.

I heart Sunday night's!!

In my onesy with M&Ms and coffee!!

port and lemon! brought back memories when my friends and I met some older lads and we lied and said we were 18 so in the pub when they asked to buy us a drink my friend said port and lemon as it was the only drink she'd heared of so we all had one.

I'm getting all worked up!

Oh my god