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In reply to the discussion: Has anyone had a chance to see Midwife on PBS on Sunday? [View all]Hekate
(100,133 posts)It is really powerful stuff. The nuns are great characters: wise, experienced, nonjudgmental midwives themselves. The one who goes to rescue the mother ofd 8 dying of a botched abortion tells the young nurse with her (after the mother is sent off by ambulance) to help clean up the mess quickly before the other children come home. The nun says to the young nurse: "You don't think I've seen this before? All we can do is give love and support, and help."
On the issue of a child born with spina bifida, the young nurse-midwife who delivered it is pretty much in shock at the prospects for the mother, the family, and the baby itself, and there is a discussion around the dinner table at Nonnatus House, where they all live. One of the oldest nuns says, apropos how to "treat" spina bifida, "Chloral hydrate. It helps them pass peacefully." Turns out that's not how it's done any more in the 1950s, but still, such an insight...
This series is real ground-of-our-being material.