Call the Midwife is back!

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

This Sunday (17th) at 8pm on BBC1.

I enjoyed the Christmas special - it was good to see Delia back, and I think there's going to be a nice romance with Tom and Barbara

The - it looks like we are going to get a thalidomide story.

I personally like trixie and think that is her character she is meant to be dramatic and over the top but she also says exactly what she thinks which I like. Strictly didn't change my opinion of the character and I actually thought the actress was nice too although I admit I didn't watch all of strictly.

She's ideal for running a keep fit class (maybe a bit beneath her level though )

ah maybe if her dad had depression then maybe with the Tom thing Trixie becomes depressed herself,that is just a thought

im a right hard faced madam but i felt emotional with the story last night

i love CTM the only programme that i refused to be disturbed by,as in my kids bothering me,they no it would not be a good idea

Trixies father was an alcoholic.

Think the storyline was probably fairly realistic, the thalidomide scandal was and is still so shocking. I don't think the families were ever properly compensated were they?

I think they have eventually, but had to fight for years for it. Not helped by the fact it was thought many of the victims would die quite young so would need very little compensation and the makers dragging their heels over it

No the fight is still ongoing.

My aunt was affected by thalidomide, mildly I suppose compared to some, she has three fingers on one hand and a big mitten like club on the other. She had a lot of very painful surgery as a child when she was growing.

Nothing was ever admitted to my mother's family. Both of her parents died fairly young.

She actually came across a photo of herself as a three year old in a medical journal when she was in her 20s. That was the first confirmation she had been affected. Any compensation was very minimal.

She is a lovely woman and has had a fairly good life.

Things were horribly different back then.

I like CTM though, I only watch about three hours of TV a week and that is one of them.

My mum was offered thalidomide when she was PG with me, but she refused it on the basis of not wanting to take drugs. She has often reminded me that each of us- her and me- had a lucky escape. It's not that long ago this occurred :)

I like Trixie as well, in fact me and my dd like her so much we were rooting for her in Strictly I thought she seemed really lovely. She is slightly ott but I like that about her, think she is a strong character and CTM would not be the same without her.

Did everyone else at sister Monica Joan scoffing the eclair and chips?!!

yes have alot of affection for sister Monica Joan

Anybody else amazed at all the underthings (petticoats!) the midwives wear under their uniforms?

"We're all girls together"

Love that nurse, Phyllis isn't it?

Yes a young lady had to be properly attired didn't she

Thank you for this thread

I have watched the first in the new series and the Christmas Special both of which passed me by at the time...

I remember my mum telling me in the seventies that Thalidomide was prescribed as an anti-emetic, but having looked it up, it was a hypnotic and sedative (given to the elderly nun with the cough).

What the ACTUAL FUCK were they thinking, the powers that be? Sedating pregnant women? But then there was an epidemic of ordinary women addicted to tranquilizers at the time as well.

Cough suppressants have only been withdrawn within my lifetime due to the novel idea that it's best to let the cough, the body's natural and healing response to an obstruction get on with it rather than sedating the patient.

This programme is so good at making you think about education and access to information, as well as women's issues generally. Bravo, CTM.

Just remembered what I was going to ask you all! Was there any importance to the milk of magnesia she was drinking so much of? Sorry if a silly question I don't know what it is...

I think milk of magnesia was the gaviscon of its time X

Distaval was the paracetamol of its time, a real cure-all. People took it for stress, headaches and lord knows what else as well as morning sickness. People recommended it to their families and friends and passed it around, which was what made it so difficult to stop. It wasn't as easy as just tracing those who had been prescribed it. And it was licensed in the uk by a distillers who were worried that it would eat into their business if people could pop this pill to relax instead of drinking.

I knew none of this until now, and I thought I was familiar with it. I was born in '71 and my mother had terrible sickness. She pretty much ran screaming when the doctor offered her anti sickness meds. Thalidomide was too recent a memory.

I was born in '71 as well, Mrs Turner, but adopted three months later. My mother rarely discussed anything topical with me but I remember this issue.

Very interesting

Just seen it too, not so far in the past for me I was born 14y after. But many many Disabled children didn't end up in families in the 60s it was instutitions. Mixed education certainly didn't exist and many people didn't see disabled adults or children because they were locked away.
I remember my mum telling stories about older relatives who had "lady problems" and you just got on with it.
The baby model was great and really well filmed. Agree about trixie she does get told off says her speech then nun is convinced! It would have been better if they had talked bit longer and her classes could have come under well women sort of thing.
I'm glad ex midwife-come nun has the other young nun to talk too all the others are so much older

I found this very painful, my mother had a very disabled baby girl in 1957. It was recommended, that they did not take her home. My mother, was horrified, my parents took her home. She wasn't expected to live long, she lived for just under a year. She was much loved.
It really brought home, how difficult it must have been for my parents.

I really like Trixie. Her character is well formed if you remember her back story. I also really like Helen on Strictly, though I was surprised she really has that accent! I thought for sure it was fake but it seems it's merely exaggerated.

Apparently the thalidomide storyline will run through the series as they slowly start to realise what's causing all the complications.

I do believe the German manufacturers only apologised very recently for the whole debacle.

Fun fact - thalidomide is still used sometimes in the treatment of leprosy.

I love Trixie. She is like a doll come to life.

I think thalidomide is used in cancer treatment as well as leprosy.

Having googled it, it is incredible how tight the timelines are for what damage it caused to an unborn baby The severity and location of the deformities depended on how many days into the pregnancy the mother was; thalidomide taken on the 20th day of pregnancy caused central brain damage, day 21 would damage the eyes, day 22 the ears and face, day 24 the arms, and leg damage would occur if taken up to day 28. Thalidomide did not damage the foetus if taken after 42 days gestation

It's also horrifying that, shortly after it was first used in Germany in 1957, 5000-7000 babies were born with the characteristic defects and nothing was linked.

That blew my mind, that you could take it on day X and it would damage arms but take it on day Y and the foetus would be fine. Take it on day Z and it damaged something else. Makes you realise what a delicate process pregnancy is.

My mum was a nurse and older colleagues would tell her about babies born with things like spina bifida being locked away in a side room to die. You just can't imagine it can you?

Debendox is a other one which was taken in the early 60's and caused some defects. My mother thought it may have been that which caused my condition, but we just don't know.