Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this blog post are solely those of the author.

I cannot adequately describe my elation at the return of our beloved midwives of Nonnatus House after too long away. Could the words of Jennifer Worth (via narrator Vanessa Redgrave) at the start of the episode have been any more appropriate to the season in which we are currently living?

“Sometimes in life we get the chance to start again. We breathe deep, stand tall, we prepare to make our way. The future waits: night has ended, and the light is flooding in. This is the morning that we dreamed of when we struggled. This is the dawn of the new day, the way back. This is everything we wanted, everything we thought was lost, and our journey begins with steps so few that a child could count them, forged by the force of life itself.”

Together we waited through the long, long night of the past many months, waiting for the night to end, and the light to come. Finally, light did break through the darkness, and the world had begun to emerge from the cocoon of fear and isolation to which we were all subjected. And just when we began to feel that perhaps life would return to some semblance of normal again (whatever “normal” means – who can even remember what “normal” was?”) the second wave of the pandemic hit us more profoundly than the first.

If there can be one word to describe human beings during this dark time, it is resilient; that is, having the ability to adjust when circumstances do not unfold as we think that they should, or expect them to, occur. Pondering on human resilience made me think about Trixie’s (played by Helen George) experience “uptown” at the Lady Emily clinic. She was at first dazzled by the beautiful clinic and couture like uniforms, but after a time she saw it for the patriarchal medical model entity that it was. Trixie is spot on when she tells the owner/physician that though he is charming and thinks that he is providing everything that he thinks a woman could want (including warming his hands with the warm water bottle prior to exams) he has forgotten to ask himself “what they want as women”. Trixie goes on to say that his patients trust him; the problem is that they do not trust themselves. Therein lies the difference between the patriarchal medical model, and the midwifery model of obstetrical care. Midwives seek to empower women such that they know going into birth that they have everything within themselves to labor and give birth. As midwives, we are there to assist where we can, hence why we prefer to be called “baby catchers” rather than those who “deliver” babies. “Delivering” implies that the person using that phrasing is doing the work of bringing forth the baby, when it is the woman who does that work. As Trixie told the physician the women “trust midwives”. And bonus points for Trixie catching the baby with the woman positioned on her hands and knees – birth should occur in the position most comfortable to the woman giving birth – not in the position most convenient to the staff attending the birth.

The other interesting theme of this episode for me was that of Sister Monica Joan’s (played by Judy Parfitt) crisis of faith. Sister Monica Joan has always been my favorite character, mainly because she seems to teeter between the limits of sanity, and the wise sage role – and it is not always easy to tell from which platform she is speaking. From the beginning, she has been the consummate pillar of faith when others have faltered, so to see that vulnerability in her has me hooked to see where this storyline goes next. Additionally, her situation draws parallels to our individual experiences during the pandemic. Faith has definitely been tested, and for many, faith may have been lost. Hopefully for many more, faith has been found, or strengthened. I look forward to seeing where hers, and our, journey takes us.