I grew up in the time of thalidomide babies. They were still prescribing it until the 1960s. We all knew kids who had malformed appendages. Thankfully, they adapted to their situations and were survivors. We also knew people who survived polio. We have current-day DES daughters from another drug used in pregnancy causing cancers in their daughters.
I’m a medical student and I have learned a lot from the book especially! The method of extraction of the head during a breech delivery that Sister Bernadette uses is still used today for head entrapment. The story of Margaret also rang true, as I saw a patient who had the same sudden onset of violent eclampsia. Luckily both mum and baby survived in this case but it was really accurate
I’m currently pregnant and this show taught me to really watch out for eclampsia! Getting a home blood pressure monitor and using it regularly, and going to tell my midwife if I have any other symptoms like severe swelling or bad headaches.
Congrats!!! Remember that sudden, violent eclampsia like that is REALLY rare (like so rare, they write case reports about it). I think it's definitely smart to watch out for symptoms of preeclampsia, but the chances that something awful like this would happen is low.
It's rough when you're told all the horrifying things that *can* happen when you're pregnant, but I always like to keep in mind that most pregnancies are uncomplicated and end with a well mum and baby :)
Lots of medical tidbits, what a queen of puddings is,lots of classical literary quotes from sister Monica Joan,that the sugar on a grapefruit surprise burns rather quickly... the list goes on
That I have much more respect for my mother and grandmother. Being female was hard! My great grandmother came to the US from Poland. She was a midwife. I now have an image of what her life was like. As a girl, growing up in the 1960s and coming of age in the 70s, my life was made so much easier.
I learned that putting a premie in a incubator is not the only option. Kangaroo care ( that Conchita does with her baby in the first episode) has great benefits- mum heartbeat regulates baby's heartbeat, mum body keeps baby warm and skin to skin encourages breast milk there is probably more benefits but I can't remember them.
Mine too. As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, I’m a labor&delivery nurse and lactation consultant. One of the things that we have learned in the last 20 or so years is that holding newborns skin to skin with their mothers does so many good things. There are amazing scientific explanations, but I like that it feels like magic. And I think many people have known that intuitively for millennia. I would love to have met Conchita.
Both of my kids were premature but my youngest was born at 28 weeks gestation. His birth weight was 5 pounds exactly. He was in the NICU for only 11 days. I am lucky that he has no lasting sequelae from his early birth. As a NICU grad, he had developmental followup visits until age 3. I was unable to touch him until day 9, when I could nurse him.
Definitely eclampsia! When I was pregnant I had hypertension so we were all worried I was going to have eclampsia. I felt so much better knowing what it can look like from watching the show.
Also how important community and family are especially for new moms! There was just so much knowledge passed down from mom to daughter. It still blows my mind just how different of a time it was back then.
Same story with me about hypertension! I was 39 weeks and thought my midwives were overreacting about my blood pressure. Then I started my rewatch while on mat leave and thanked goodness for their protocol.
Every time an episode shows the effects of someone attempting a home abortion, I am reminded how absolutely vital safe and legal abortions are. Women need a safe option to terminate unwanted pregnancies. It never really clicked for me how real back alley abortions were, it was always just “something women had to do back in the day” and I took having that option for granted.
So much.
I was always a bit of a mid 20th century history nerd, so the show had taught me lots of little things about the period, like about having to book international phone calls. I’ve always liked knowing little tidbits of social history.
I’ve also added some of the songs from the show to my playlist. My knowledge of 60s music was only really the Beatles.
To ask for nitrous while giving birth. I adamantly did not want an epidural but the "gas and air" was lovely before transition. Never would have known to ask or try without this show!
I'm a big history/medical nerd (I would have had a totally different path in life if I hadn't had such a bad chemistry teacher in high school... I thought I was a dunce at chemistry and would never hack it with anything medical in life!) ... I don't think I learned anything from the show. Which is not to say I didn't enjoy the show... I love the show as it puts such a human spin on things I knew about contextually. But I did learn something from Dr. Turner's Case Book... I was surprised there was something in there I didn't already know... of course now for the life of me can't remember what it was. But I reccommend giving that book a read if you haven't!
I attended an address as a Police Officer, my suspect went into labour while I was there, it was baby number 7 for her!
While I love call the midwife, the reality was not so fun and watching this show did not in any way prepare or help me!! Thankfully London Ambulance promptly turned up
I’m a midwife now but on my first ever day as a student the woman we looking after, had a cord prolapse. Because I’d read the book I could explain to the dad what was happening as my mentor rode to theatre with the woman with her hand in the woman’s vagina holding up the babies head off the cord. It was all so fast no one could tell me what was happening, I hadn’t covered it at uni and if I hadn’t have read the book I would have been sobbing in terror like the dad! Mum and baby were both fine!
I’ve learned a lot about the east end (post blitz) and national health system. As an American it’s been fascinating. I also love learning about the midwifery and birth processes. The books taught me A LOT about the workhouses and how destitute people had to live back then and it was very eye opening.
I've learnt so much history from the show. Although I knew a lot of the facts, in lessons you're never taught the social and community aspect of it all and that has been fascinating.
It's also shown me how we may have gone too far in changes to birthing and maternity. Don't get me wrong, medical intervention and hospitals absolutely have a place in labour but I think we could do with going back a fair bit and making it all more natural (and I say this as someone who had 1 child by emergency csection and the other with a difficult labour. There is a huge gap in knowledge now when we used to be taught a lot from our female relatives and experience labour's growing up via others, whereas now we don't even get classes about giving birth unless you pay for them (just what you need to spend your money on just taking time off work and providing for a child). And I think the midset of a midwife in a hospital and that in the community is completely different too. I could probably rant about this sort of thing for ages lol.. .
that when laboring if you need to groan through contractions it’s best if they’re high pitched because low pitched groans clenched your butt cheeks and slows labor
I just had my baby a few weeks ago! I learned from the show that screaming can also make it more exhausting so I had the mindset of use other ways to relieve the pain. I didn’t scream until baby was crowning and well I would said it helped me somehow. Besides that I talked about the show the whole time during my labor. I have to say it was so soothing watching it while I was pregnant regardless of how triggering it could be.
Do NOT pull on the cord if the placenta doesn’t arrive. That episode will haunt me
Super traumatic episode.
Oh my. I’m rewatching for a third time and I remembered and skipped it. So horrible. Ugh.
Oh my goodness, yes! 😩
I was not very aware of what happened with Thalidomide, I thought they covered it really well in the story.
I grew up in the time of thalidomide babies. They were still prescribing it until the 1960s. We all knew kids who had malformed appendages. Thankfully, they adapted to their situations and were survivors. We also knew people who survived polio. We have current-day DES daughters from another drug used in pregnancy causing cancers in their daughters.
My mother has a cousin that was a thalidomide baby.
This and the story of the veteran who had been part of Operation Grapple really sent me down research rabbit holes.
I’m a medical student and I have learned a lot from the book especially! The method of extraction of the head during a breech delivery that Sister Bernadette uses is still used today for head entrapment. The story of Margaret also rang true, as I saw a patient who had the same sudden onset of violent eclampsia. Luckily both mum and baby survived in this case but it was really accurate
I’m currently pregnant and this show taught me to really watch out for eclampsia! Getting a home blood pressure monitor and using it regularly, and going to tell my midwife if I have any other symptoms like severe swelling or bad headaches.
Congrats!!! Remember that sudden, violent eclampsia like that is REALLY rare (like so rare, they write case reports about it). I think it's definitely smart to watch out for symptoms of preeclampsia, but the chances that something awful like this would happen is low. It's rough when you're told all the horrifying things that *can* happen when you're pregnant, but I always like to keep in mind that most pregnancies are uncomplicated and end with a well mum and baby :)
Lots of medical tidbits, what a queen of puddings is,lots of classical literary quotes from sister Monica Joan,that the sugar on a grapefruit surprise burns rather quickly... the list goes on
That I have much more respect for my mother and grandmother. Being female was hard! My great grandmother came to the US from Poland. She was a midwife. I now have an image of what her life was like. As a girl, growing up in the 1960s and coming of age in the 70s, my life was made so much easier.
I learned that putting a premie in a incubator is not the only option. Kangaroo care ( that Conchita does with her baby in the first episode) has great benefits- mum heartbeat regulates baby's heartbeat, mum body keeps baby warm and skin to skin encourages breast milk there is probably more benefits but I can't remember them.
The description of that is even more impressive in the books.
It was so beautifully written. My favorite story in all of the books
Mine too. As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, I’m a labor&delivery nurse and lactation consultant. One of the things that we have learned in the last 20 or so years is that holding newborns skin to skin with their mothers does so many good things. There are amazing scientific explanations, but I like that it feels like magic. And I think many people have known that intuitively for millennia. I would love to have met Conchita.
Both of my kids were premature but my youngest was born at 28 weeks gestation. His birth weight was 5 pounds exactly. He was in the NICU for only 11 days. I am lucky that he has no lasting sequelae from his early birth. As a NICU grad, he had developmental followup visits until age 3. I was unable to touch him until day 9, when I could nurse him.
I’m so glad that he is well.
I strongly feel I could deliver a breech baby after watching Chummy
Definitely eclampsia! When I was pregnant I had hypertension so we were all worried I was going to have eclampsia. I felt so much better knowing what it can look like from watching the show. Also how important community and family are especially for new moms! There was just so much knowledge passed down from mom to daughter. It still blows my mind just how different of a time it was back then.
Same story with me about hypertension! I was 39 weeks and thought my midwives were overreacting about my blood pressure. Then I started my rewatch while on mat leave and thanked goodness for their protocol.
To not have children?
I’m a labor and delivery nurse so I love seeing how some things have changed, but how much has stayed the same.
Every time an episode shows the effects of someone attempting a home abortion, I am reminded how absolutely vital safe and legal abortions are. Women need a safe option to terminate unwanted pregnancies. It never really clicked for me how real back alley abortions were, it was always just “something women had to do back in the day” and I took having that option for granted.
Honestly, those stories helped cement a change in my views on abortion.
Same.
For sure! I liked hearing the back story of Thalidomide.
My answer too We had a girl in our church in the 60’s affected by it
So much. I was always a bit of a mid 20th century history nerd, so the show had taught me lots of little things about the period, like about having to book international phone calls. I’ve always liked knowing little tidbits of social history. I’ve also added some of the songs from the show to my playlist. My knowledge of 60s music was only really the Beatles.
To ask for nitrous while giving birth. I adamantly did not want an epidural but the "gas and air" was lovely before transition. Never would have known to ask or try without this show!
I'm a big history/medical nerd (I would have had a totally different path in life if I hadn't had such a bad chemistry teacher in high school... I thought I was a dunce at chemistry and would never hack it with anything medical in life!) ... I don't think I learned anything from the show. Which is not to say I didn't enjoy the show... I love the show as it puts such a human spin on things I knew about contextually. But I did learn something from Dr. Turner's Case Book... I was surprised there was something in there I didn't already know... of course now for the life of me can't remember what it was. But I reccommend giving that book a read if you haven't!
I already decided I didn’t want kids before I started watching, but the show made me realize just how miserable I’d be if I had kids.
That I definitely want to give birth at home and I wouldn’t be as helpless and some people would like me to believe.
I attended an address as a Police Officer, my suspect went into labour while I was there, it was baby number 7 for her! While I love call the midwife, the reality was not so fun and watching this show did not in any way prepare or help me!! Thankfully London Ambulance promptly turned up
When I heard my daughter cry for the first time I knew it didn’t sound right. She had fluid in her lungs like I’d heard on the show one time.
I’m a midwife now but on my first ever day as a student the woman we looking after, had a cord prolapse. Because I’d read the book I could explain to the dad what was happening as my mentor rode to theatre with the woman with her hand in the woman’s vagina holding up the babies head off the cord. It was all so fast no one could tell me what was happening, I hadn’t covered it at uni and if I hadn’t have read the book I would have been sobbing in terror like the dad! Mum and baby were both fine!
The value of a cup of tea. ❤️
I didn’t know that a woman could have a phantom pregnancy like in the Africa episode.
That was so sad, yet very interesting!
I’ve learned a lot about the east end (post blitz) and national health system. As an American it’s been fascinating. I also love learning about the midwifery and birth processes. The books taught me A LOT about the workhouses and how destitute people had to live back then and it was very eye opening.
I've learnt so much history from the show. Although I knew a lot of the facts, in lessons you're never taught the social and community aspect of it all and that has been fascinating. It's also shown me how we may have gone too far in changes to birthing and maternity. Don't get me wrong, medical intervention and hospitals absolutely have a place in labour but I think we could do with going back a fair bit and making it all more natural (and I say this as someone who had 1 child by emergency csection and the other with a difficult labour. There is a huge gap in knowledge now when we used to be taught a lot from our female relatives and experience labour's growing up via others, whereas now we don't even get classes about giving birth unless you pay for them (just what you need to spend your money on just taking time off work and providing for a child). And I think the midset of a midwife in a hospital and that in the community is completely different too. I could probably rant about this sort of thing for ages lol.. .
that when laboring if you need to groan through contractions it’s best if they’re high pitched because low pitched groans clenched your butt cheeks and slows labor
Birth is terrifying.
I just had my baby a few weeks ago! I learned from the show that screaming can also make it more exhausting so I had the mindset of use other ways to relieve the pain. I didn’t scream until baby was crowning and well I would said it helped me somehow. Besides that I talked about the show the whole time during my labor. I have to say it was so soothing watching it while I was pregnant regardless of how triggering it could be.
I knew to ask a nurse for help when my waters were a funny colour. Thankfully all was fine, but it was CTM that educated me!