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]

[sailorsgal]

heartbreaking

[Sleepyhoglet]

Missed the first half hour- update me please!

[girliefriend]

I reckon the dr will keep that baby!!

[MikeTheShite]

hope the baby stays with shelia n dr Turner

[Sleepyhoglet]

How easy would it have been to find adopters for abandoned black babies in those days?

[Sleepyhoglet]

This is all a bit modern isn't it- suggesting that the woman is allowed to give birth the way she wants to. Can't believe it really was like that

[ColdTeaAgain]

She had a one night stand with a black man, husband didn't know and came back just after the baby was born. Threatened to hurt baby if she didn't get rid of it :(

Dr is looking after baby for the night but they are so gonna end up keeping her!

[Sleepyhoglet]

Cuthbert!

[Sleepyhoglet]

I love doctor turner!

[ColdTeaAgain]

Yes I was a bit about natural birthing classes in the 50's. Am no expert on the history of maternity care though!

[MikeTheShite]

NO!!!!!!!!

[ColdTeaAgain]

:( :( was so hoping they would keep the baby and then the mother would be able to be in her life. Guess that's a bit too fairytale even for call the midwife! Where's the tissues?

[GW297]

I enjoyed tonight's episode. Best of this series so far I feel.

[girliefriend]

Oooh wanted the dr to keep the baby!!

Was also a bit at them finding adoptive parents for a mixed race baby but glad they did obv!

[LaurieFairyCake]

Oh god, that made me cry at the end

She had to pretend it died

I love this show, look forward to it every week.

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

I do wish dr Turner and Shelagh would stop simpering at each other though. It's getting on my nips.

[LaVolcan]

Grantley Dick-Reade, a pioneer of natural childbirth, was writing in the late 1940s so it's entirely possible that the ideas were beginning to filter downwards by the late 50s.

(There were, I believe, female natural birth pioneers, but of course, as always, it's the men who get the fame!)

[nikkihollis]

Whoah! That was tough viewing. It takes a lot to reduce me to tears but it was just heart-wrenching. And Nelly too when she looked up to the ceiling when her baby was born. So well done. The acting is excellent.

What year is it supposed to be in now.? I agree there are things that did seem a bit ahead of their time - natural birthing, the blonde pixie cut and really good quality looking blonde dye? Would Vidal Sassoon have been high-profile enough to be known about apart from by those who could have afforded his services and the people in the midst of the London scene ? I was born in 1960 and my parents and grandparents talked about someone called Teazy Weezy or someone, who was THE hairdresser but no one mentioned Sassoon. Though this was in Yorkshire.

[JugglingFromHereToThere]

Ooh, wasn't it good? Just perfect for Sunday nights.
And more banter today between the girls which was much needed I think - Jenny's character warming up a bit.
They must have been reading what we said last week!

[LaVolcan]

The NCT apparently started in 1955, and this must be 1960 ish now. My mother went to classes like that in Kent, when she was expecting my brother in the late 1940s. Nor was it just a middle class thing - that was what was on offer locally. From what she used to say, the standard of ante-natal care was far superior then, but I think it was very patchy, because she had me in the early 1950s in Yorkshire, and there was nothing like that on offer there.

[figgypuddings]

Sassoon opened his first salon in London in 1954 but Teasy Weasy was the name for hair. I'm confused about the dates but think Sassoon became really famous by doing Mary Quant's iconic bob.

That episode was a crusher. Brilliantly acted but hard on the emotions.

[LaVolcan]

And apparently the pixie haircut was popularised by Audrey Hepburn in the late 1950s. Trixie would most definitely be following the latest trend.

[diddl]

Gosh I'm a heartless bitch.

Didn't find it sad at all.

Would many men want to bring up the obvious product of their wife's infidelity?

Of course he was conveniently not a nice guy, so limited/no sympathy for him!

Would Dr Turner & Shelagh have been able to adopt a mixed race baby?

Notice how quickly he said " I'm sure we'll manage ourselves" or somesuch when his son wanted Carole to stay with them.

[girliefriend]

Diddl I didn't find it that sad either really, I was a bit that the mum would have had a one night stand in the first place -she had 3 young sons for goodness sake so amazed she would have had the energy!!, Also if she would have had a one night stand with a black guy and not used contraception esp as she said she used 'rubbers' with her husband.

I didn't really feel sorry for the mum as she had got herself into a ridiculous situation where she knows her husband is an aggressive bully and got herself pregnant with a baby that she could not pass off as his. I did feel very sorry for the baby though as goodness knows what the future holds for her.

I must be a heartless bitch as well

[Serafinaaa]

My grandparents (both white) adopted a mixed race baby in the late 50s / early 60s. She is my Aunt. So it was certainly possible. The story I've always been told though that they adopted her because the authorities were having difficulty finding a couple who would. They had several of their own children already.