Call the Midwife

"You made Mrs. Mckenzie feel safe.  That's the mark of a good nurse- a midwife too; the rest is just mechanics." - Dr. Turner to Chummy

Cripes!  Why hadn't anyone told me about this show before?  I came across it while browsing for childbirth documentaries on Netflix.  Although it a dramatized show,I wondered if it   might be helpful to my study in some way and decided to give it a try.  I'm glad I did!  I've been stuck in bed for a few days with an awful cold and exhaustion, this show was a welcome reprieve from the text and documentaries I was taking in between naps. 

Call the Midwife is a BBC show based on the memoirs of the late midwife, Jennifer Worth.  The series starts out with Jenny's arrival at the Nonnatus house in 1957.  Believing that she has accepted a placement in a small private hospital, Jenny is surprised to find her self moving into a convent and serving the devastatingly poor East End of London.  I'm only 3 episodes in, but it is very good- gritty, realistic

While I am watching this series, I am also gathering fantastic insights and quotes for the essay I am working on regarding feminsim and servitude.  This is a good one:

"I thought I deserved all manner of medals," a fellow midwife, Trixie tells Jenny in the first episode"... but then I realized I didn't deserve any medles at all.  The mothers are the brave ones... they're the heroins; I'm just here to help." 

That's pretty much the crux of what I'm trying to get at with my feminist/servant schpeel.  It's about helping to raise women up, by placing yourself below them.  Empowerment through humbleness.  I'm trying to get to these thoughts while working my way through this sickness, and am so thankful to have found this show to help me along!  I can't wait to dig into the books!