April showers bring May flowers and May flowers bring sweltering summer weather. Everyone is feeling the heat in Poplar, but despite the rising temperatures the midwives are fighting through it to come to the aid of their patients. This week begins on a good note when Ivy Jepson gives birth to twins (and after last week’s traumatizing story, we needed joy like this) but the group is in for an emotional ride as we head into Episode 4.

A Mysterious Illness

At Goldman’s Manufacturing Furrier, Sister Hilda makes a call to the Rosen family, where Orli Rosen is pregnant with their first. While she’s there, she also meets her husband Samuel and the shop’s fur coat maker. Though Sister Hilda is enamored with his work - one coat in particular reminds her of her mother - she worries about the safety of delivering a baby so close to the workshop.

She eventually clears them for a home birth once Samuel promises not to bring any of his work into their flat, but becomes newly concerned with the sound of Samuel’s labored breathing before she goes. (No, it is not just the nerves of a new father.) Sister Hilda encourages him to get checked to avoid passing any illness to their new baby, and he reluctantly visits Dr. Turner’s surgery where the doctor hears unusual sounds in his chest. When he subsequently goes to St. Cuthbert’s to test for recurrent TB or pneumonia, his report shows no signs of either.

Yvonne Cawder’s Feeding Troubles

This week, following the birth of Ivy’s sons, we also meet her twin sister Yvonne Cawder who recently gave birth to her daughter, Melanie. Yvonne attends Trixie’s postnatal class at the Iris Knight Institute to socialize with other new mothers and share experiences, but she’s discouraged when Melanie fusses throughout the meeting. At the end of class once the other women have left, Yvonne opens up about her struggles with Melanie’s feeding routine, but when Trixie offers to visit, she denies her help. When Yvonne returns home, however, we see the terrible physical and emotional pain she’s enduring as she tries to feed Melanie that evening.

The Pressures of Sibling Competition

When Yvonne visits Ivy at the maternity hospital the next day, her frustrations show as her sister makes innocent comparisons between their children. Projecting her personal struggles onto her sister, Yvonne makes an assumption that Ivy won’t be able to produce enough breast milk for both of her sons. Overhearing their conversation, Shelagh enthusiastically confirms that in fact Ivy has been successfully feeding them both, which is even more upsetting for the struggling mother.

Change on the Horizon

At Lucille and Cyril’s apartment, the happy newlyweds discuss plans for their future and dreams of a home they can call their own - not one that they have to share with their church. Though they agree they need to save up before they can move, Cyril has the opportunity to interview with a construction company that would allow him to get back into civil engineering work and bring in the extra money they require.

As talks of work lead to change, Lucille is also ready to spill a secret of her own but is interrupted when a fellow member of their congregation, Mrs. Robinson, drops in. Later, Lucille confides in Phyllis about the couple’s predicament and how Cyril’s search for a new job and finding a new space are the next steps in their plans to grow a family. However, those plans may have changed. Despite using contraception, Lucille reveals she might be pregnant and asks her friend to discreetly help her with a pregnancy test.

Samuel Rosen’s Traumatic Past

While the mystery behind Samuel’s breathing issues stumps Dr. Turner and the doctors at St. Cuthbert’s, the team’s focus turns to Orli as she goes into labor. She eventually requires a forceps delivery with Dr. Turner, Lucille and Sister Hilda’s help, and as her cries ring out, Samuel storms into the room and pleads with them to stop hurting her. Their son is delivered safely, but after Samuel’s unusual outburst, Dr. Turner steps out of the room to check on him. He discovers that Orli’s cries triggered a traumatic memory from his past and the horrors he faced as a young boy when he and his family were forced into a concentration camp during the Holocaust.

When Dr. Turner and Sister Hilda return to the Rosens’ to follow up on Orli’s postpartum progress, Samuel’s PTSD continues to surface. He opens up to them about his time in Auschwitz and recounts being separated from his mother and younger brother who were sent to a gas chamber on the first day they arrived. Understandably, the atrocities committed against Jews during this time have continued to stay with him and impact his life with his family.

A Stolen Identity

After this conversation and the birth of Orli and Samuel’s son, talks of bris, a traditional Jewish ceremony, and picking a Hebrew name for their child arise. Sister Hilda notices that Samuel is quick to push back at Orli’s suggestions and instead recommends a quiet ceremony and urges her to consider an English name.

Upon invitation from Orli, Sister Hilda joins the gathering of women outside of her son’s bris. Once the ceremony is over and as post-bris celebration begins, she’s on her way out only to stumble upon Samuel alone in his workshop hiding from the company in their home. He confesses he feels like an outsider and that because of his past and the loss of his family, he never had a chance to learn how to pray, read from the Torah or have a Bar Mitzvah. As he reflects further on his final memories at Auschwitz, he tells Sister Hilda that following his mother and brother’s deaths, his father was eventually rounded up with other men and killed. He continues to mourn for his father but also worries that as a father now himself he won’t get to see his own son grow up because of his illness.

Later, Samuel and Orli return to Dr. Turner’s office where he learns that his chest pains and breathing issues could be the early stages of extrinsic allergic alveolitis. It’s likely a result of inhaling dust and fine hair from animal furs like the ones Samuel works with daily and if he doesn’t stop working with fur altogether, it may damage his lungs permanently. Naturally, having to give up his work, especially with a new baby, is the last thing he wants to hear. However, Orli assures him that her grandfather, who originally taught him the trade, will make him a business manager for their workshop as he’s always promised.

Giving Samuel His Voice Back

Following Samuel’s diagnosis, Sister Hilda stops by the Rosens’ home for a final parting gift. Knowing how hard his life has been and how much of his identity was stolen from him during his time in Auschwitz, Sister Hilda reveals that she spoke with the Rosens’ Rabbi who has offered to give Samuel the Bar Mitzvah he never had. Samuel is touched by this, welcoming the opportunity, and as it turns out, he also has a surprise gift for Sister Hilda. He presents her with a small scrap of fox fur from the coat she admired so much as a reminder of her mother and their newly forged friendship.

Dating Tips with Nancy

During time not spent with Yvonne and Melanie, Trixie has been bonding with new beau Matthew after that first kiss. Despite his grand gesture at the Nonnatus House centenary party and his promises of flowers (which he continues to be consistent with, by the way), their first real “date” isn’t quite the romantic day Trixie had envisioned. Their picnic and ice cream adventure abruptly ends when baby Jonathan (third wheeling) drops his ice cream cone straight onto Trixie’s dress - and for all of us Midwife superfans, we know how important clothes are to her.

Finding a Way to Help Yvonne

Ruined dress aside, Trixie returns to her work and responds to a call from Yvonne’s home where the pain of feeding Melanie has become too much for her on her own. As soon as Trixie arrives, she diagnoses Yvonne with mastitis, a painful breast infection which will require a round of antibiotics. With Sister Julienne’s blessing she also takes extra rounds to Yvonne’s home to help her with breastfeeding. Unfortunately, the visits are not enough.

A Support System for Yvonne and Melanie

Trixie worries about Yvonne’s emotional state, and her worst fears are confirmed when she returns to the patient’s home for a feeding visit only to find Melanie alone in her stroller outside. Realizing how urgent Yvonne’s situation is, Trixie seeks Sister Julienne’s advice and encourages intervention. Sister Julienne is able to secure Yvonne and Melanie a place at a postnatal center that offers 24-hour care and assistance for mothers who are experiencing feeding difficulties similar to hers. Though Yvonne is skeptical and feels defeated, Trixie assures her that she did the right thing by asking for help.

Cyril and Lucille’s Growing Family

Later, Lucille takes her pregnancy test and receives quick results thanks to Phyllis’ sneaky, discreet work at Dr. Turner’s office. She’s pregnant! Though she’s elated by the news, she’s also worried about how Cyril will react to their new addition. Lucille knows their financial situation might complicate things after Cyril is rejected following his interview and must continue his job search.

However, when she finally sits him down to deliver her big news, Cyril is overjoyed when he realizes he’s going to become a father. Lucille also assures him that their flat will be a fine place for the trio to live to ease his stress about finding a job and having to move homes.

Starting Fresh

Thankfully, Matthew doesn’t need smoke signals or a skywriter to tell him about his failed first date with Trixie. He has Nancy! When the young nurse hears about Trixie’s lackluster afternoon, she steps in to give Matthew a word of advice. She urges him to take Trixie out on a proper first date – without Jonathan. Despite how long the two have known each other, they have barely had one-on-one time together. After everything Trixie has been through – we’ll never forget her heartbreak after her relationship with Christopher Dockerill came to an end – she deserves this. Fortunately, Matthew hears Nancy loud and clear and arrives at Nonnatus House with flowers and an invitation to dinner sans baby. We love a man who listens.

Forgot how we got here? Catch up on “Call the Midwife” with the Season 11, Episode 3 GIF Recap.