by Lena Szerwo
I’ve been told that I have the TV show taste of a middle-aged white woman. And you know what? That’s okay. I like looking forward to my shows at the end of a long day, cup of tea in hand and ready to be immersed in the daily lives, the ups and downs, of others. One such show is BBC’s Call the Midwife (2012), based on the memoirs of nurse Jennifer Worth, and the life she lived in the East End of London during the 1950s. The principals of the shows are midwives, nurses
who help assist women during birth; except they do much more than that, providing other healthcare and emotional support to their patients.
who help assist women during birth; except they do much more than that, providing other healthcare and emotional support to their patients.
As someone scared of pregnancy, in fact deeply terrified (and somewhat horrified) of it, I was surprised to be drawn to this show. I think this is an attestation to Call the Midwife’s strengths and successes – it does not shy away from anything. The rawness of human emotion plays out on screen, and it’s sometimes hard to watch. The East End of London was famous for its poverty, working-class families, tenet housing, and subsequent disdain for women. In many depictions of this time, the minutiae of life is swept aside in favor of generalizations of grand stories. This TV series allows room for women and focuses on them. They are the agents of the
story and are afforded agency themselves. Life was not easy, and you won’t always agree with the characters, but there’s a quiet strength that perseveres throughout everything. I think this show contains an important message that’s especially relevant today, to live and to love. Otherwise, what’s the point?
story and are afforded agency themselves. Life was not easy, and you won’t always agree with the characters, but there’s a quiet strength that perseveres throughout everything. I think this show contains an important message that’s especially relevant today, to live and to love. Otherwise, what’s the point?
To further break down what this show is about: race, class, gender, disease, parenthood, religion, love, and community. Perhaps in a list like this, these are just buzzwords, but truly the intersectionality of everything is on display here. Surface level this is a show about women helping women give birth, but if you watch it you’ll realize it’s so much more than that. Birth connects everyone, and so does healthcare. No matter who you are, you’re affected by where you come from, who your parents are, and where in the scheme of things life has deposited you. And the midwives in the poor areas of London were the life threads holding everything together, when people didn’t have safe places to live or others to turn to.
Another key historical point of Call the Midwife is that many midwives and nurses were sponsored by religious orders. Nuns often were midwives, and worked in tandem with midwives who were not religious. This unity is important, and highlights that helping others transcended imposed societal lines. As a non-religious viewer, I still found this show engaging, and it didn’t feel like I was being preached to. Many women at the time used religion as a way to claim power for themselves, and live the lives they wanted to.
Call the Midwife is part historical drama and part medical show, but it is wholly good. Clocking in at thirteen seasons which each have eight episodes and an annual Christmas special, it may seem daunting but the overarching and episode storylines keep you hooked. Whether you stay for a season, or three or four, you’re bound to learn something, and perhaps appreciate your community a little bit more.
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