Midwife calling! Okay, no, I’m not a midwife, nor do I live in England, or in the 1950’s. Call the Midwife: A True Story of the East End in the 1950’s is the first in a trilogy of memoirs. The trilogy was written by Jennifer Worth, a former district nurse and midwife. While there are three books in the series, this review focuses on the first book.
Set in Poplar, in the East End of London, Jennifer works as a midwife and district nurse. The midwives work out of a convent, Nonnatus House. Nonnatus House is a pseudonym for the Community of St. John the Divine in Whitechapel. Jennifer, known back then as Jenny Lee (or Nurse Lee), actually worked here. The chapters of the story alternate between the stories of individual mothers and their deliveries, often quite stressful, and some stories of funny, and sometimes serious, moments that would occur in the convent between the nuns and midwives. In one instance, one of the nuns starts to suffer from severe memory loss and must go to court. The midwives and nuns worked under the head nun (mother superior of the order of nuns), Sister Julienne. Many of the names of the nuns and midwives were pseudonyms, albeit one. Jenny remained close friends with Cynthia Miller, a fellow nurse and midwife, in later life.
Call the Midwife is a serious book yet still light hearted and fun. It gives insight into how times were different in the ‘50’s, how Jenny got her start, and what it was like to work as a midwife/nurse during that time. One of the biggest criticisms with this book was while Jenny is the main author and many of the experiences were hers, - rightfully so - it would have been nice to learn about some of the other midwives and their experiences in greater detail. At times, a reader could forget that Nurses Chummy, Trixie and Cynthia even existed. As Jenny lived and worked with her friends for quite sometime, it would have improved the book slightly if the reader was able to learn a little more about them.
Despite this criticism, it is still a good read. It gives the reader a better, or more real, look into the world of midwives, how they got their start (at the time) and how times have changed, both medically and otherwise, since the 1950’s. Since the publication of the first book, Jenny wrote two more in the series. The following books dealt with patients who had grown up and worked in the workhouses and Jenny’s eventual move from midwivery to full time nursing. Sadly, Jenny died from cancer after the publications of her books.
However, Jenny’s stories live on in the BBC hit show Call The Midwife. Starring Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, Jenny Agutter, Pam Ferris and Stephen McGann (brother of the eighth doctor, Paul McGann), the show brings the stories to life and gives a much more detailed insight in to Jenny’s stories. In February, the BBC confirmed that there would be a fourth series in 2015, and that there would be a 2014 Christmas special. The show, during its first series, became the most successful new drama series on BBC One since 2001. Terri, who wrote the original article that inspired Jenny to write her hit books, serves as a consultant on the show.
Overall, the book is worth a read, as are its successors. Despite some faults, one can look at these and still enjoy the information that Jenny has left. It gives the reader a newfound respect towards midwives.