Sometimes the words of Jenny Lee (spoken through the voice of Vanessa Redgrave) perk my ears more than at other times. This episode was one of those times. Her words describing women as “warriors” were (and are) spot on; “a mother endures because a mother loves; the cord that binds her to her child is never fully severed. The battle is not chosen but must be embraced… our stories interweave, our stories unite us… past, present, and future, we cherish, we share, we survive.” Women are indeed warriors – every day, in innumerable situations throughout our lives, we are required to be warriors. We fight to have the same opportunities as our male counterparts first in our educational journeys from primary school forward and then in our professional lives. We fight to have the kind of healthcare and births that we deserve, on our own terms, and in consideration of our wishes and autonomy. We fight for our children, that they are treated fairly in society and protected from all harm. We fight for our parents, in waning years, that they are treated with dignity and respect. And we fight for the right to love whom those our heart leads us, just as our main character in this episode, who has been disowned by her family for loving a man not of the same race, does. The families we choose are not always the families that we are given.

In this episode we watch the young father having a mental health crisis as he is eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia. The classic signs of delusions and hallucinations – which can be auditory or visual – plague him after the birth of his child. He is in exactly the typical age range when schizophrenia appears, late adolescence to early twenties, which unfortunately also parallels the time when most young people are first living apart from their support systems. During the 1950’s and 60’s there had been several advances in the treatment of schizophrenia. Prior to that time, locking affected individuals away in institutions and medicating them to the point of being living zombies was the course of treatment. Newer medications for the treatment also appeared on the scene around that time which changed the trajectory for many affected individuals and their families. I hope we get to see this young man again in the future to know that he was able to return to his wife, mother, and child.

On another note, I know that others must have found amusement in Sister Veronica (played by Rebecca Gethings) providing a tutorial to the local Poplar men on vasectomy. Readers are not surprised to know that in the early stages of its use, vasectomy was purported as a way to decrease the “defective” elements in society by preventing them from procreating. Countless men, mainly in prisons and asylums, were involuntarily subjected to the procedure as a result. You may be surprised to learn, however, as I certainly was, that Sigmund Freud underwent a vasectomy to preserve his youth. The thought was that the surgical procedure would prevent the testicles from developing sperm, which would be replaced by enhanced testosterone production, which would result in a younger, more virile man. While that theory was debunked, the procedure did begin to catch on and gain popularity by the early 1970’s as a feasible male birth control alternative to females having a tubal ligation, which was far more invasive.

Last issue from this episode, I am concerned about the Council’s underestimation of how integral Nonnatus house is to the community and health of Poplar’s citizens. The midwives and nurses of Nonnatus are the lifeblood of the community; they are there as public health nurses and midwives at the beginnings and endings of lives – they are absolutely vital to the health and well-being of Poplar. The Council Director’s description to Sister Julienne (played by Jenny Agutter) of the work of Nonnatus House as “inefficient” struck a chord. As a midwife, how many times have I heard physicians refer to the critically important work of labor sitting with patients (i.e. being with women during labor, and not just running in at the end to “catch”) as an “inefficient” use of a midwife’s time – perfectly suited to labor nurses, not midwives, to perform. And that circles us right back to the beginning of this blog: we are always warriors – and as midwives we fight battles for those whom we serve, every day, day in, day out, and are honored to do so.

Sources

Sexual Health Alliance “The History of the Vasectomy and its Modern Convenience” Dec 8. 2021