The Real Life Stories Behind Call The Midwife | Call The Midwife: The Casebook | Beyond Documentary

This special one-off documentary looks at the real life stories that are the inspiration behind the internationally successful BBC drama series Call the Midwife, loved by millions of people around the world. Host actor Stephen McGann, better known to audiences as Dr. Patrick Turner, travels across the UK to examine the developments in medical care, changes in midwifery practice and advances in medicine in the 1950s and 60s. A must-see for fans, the special also features interviews with key cast members to reveal how this behind-the-scenes research all comes together to inform their performance, and help them develop the characters they play.

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[stormyjlb]

I think Call the Midwife should be included in high school curriculum! It sensitively covers so many important social and historical topics!

[bettyjamieson]

The BEST acted series I've ever seen! I'm a retired labor nurse. I shed many tears watching these events!

[Falliiing]

This show is absolutely amazing. I mourn every time a beloved character leaves the show. And every single character ends up being loved! Dearly miss Chummy and sister Evangelina.

[lorisharpe]

I think the reason this series has done so well is because no matter the topic, it is covered, with love, compassion, and a desire to show, that no matter who you are, or where you come from, whatever stage in life youre at, or what ever you're going through, you have worth. No matter a viewer's position on the topics covered, abortion, contraception, or religion, politics, etc, we are all in the room with these families, and we feel the pain, the anguish, the love, and the laughter they do, and there is so much that we can mull over and think about.
I have watched the series multiple times, and it never gets old. I have seen something new or focused on something new each time, and I feel like I'm with old friends and family. Thank you for this behind the scenes peek.

[kathrynseton]

That last statement by the actor playing Dr Turner brought real tears to my eyes. There are so many everyday people throughout history who; through their faithful working out of their vocations (whatever profession they are in), have left the world transformed...bit by little bit. We indeed owe them a debt of gratitude...beginning with learning and telling their stories; however humble. This show does just that, and does so marvelously!❤

[Ginamayy]

In my opinion- the best tv series ever. It has drama, comedy, sometimes suspense. It always has a lesson to learn every episode. I hope it continues for years and years to come!

[SarahGreen]

I watch this whole series over and over again. It is my respite from the world of today with no community other than what we can find online, and which I have mostly unplugged from. I watch this show for the love it portrays, the community, the Christian values and for the history. Because of this show, I've bought a hand crank Singer sewing machine, tried Garibaldis and Quality Street and clotted cream. I still cry at every birth. I still weep and feel my own mortality in every death bed scene. I love each character and mourn their passing or moving on to other things. This show reminds me that people are good and life is good and loving people and helping people happens even today, though at times it feels as though it doesn't.

[libbyneves]

One episode always sticks in my mind.
A young woman has married a sweet older man. He marries her for love and to help her pull of severe deprivation. In the show she is in labor at home crying that she cannot have the baby. When the baby is born it is obvious his father was black. The young wife had had a brief affair with a very handsome black man, maybe an American soldier I can’t recall that detail and doesn’t matter for the story. In any case the birth father is totally out of the picture. The young wife is dying of shame at the thought of hurting her husband. Her husband comes in and sees the baby.
He picks up the baby and says, “My son! Look at my wonderful son.” Later they show him pushing a pram in the neighborhood calling out to his friends to come see his son.
What Grace, what nobility.
Best show ever on television.

[doloressims]

I loved this series! My maternal grandmother was a practical nurse mid-wife, and she birthed 14 of her own children. All at home. I have so much admiration and respect for midwifery.

[roxismama]

I started watching Call the Midwife on PBS and lost track, so when I saw it on Netflix I started from the very beginning.. This show is one of the best shows I’ve ever seenl.. It shows all the good and bad of pregnancy, birth and even diseases of the. 50’s and 60’s. Covers everything.. I remember them all. I will watch it again, I’m sure..

[susan]

I don't think I've ever watched one episode of this wonderful series when I haven't shed a tear.

[joygernautm]

I’m a nurse, and we all love the show. It is extremely realistic in regards to the scenarios We see around birth and health and relationships and socioeconomic status. I mean, obviously we have more modern equipment and resources nowadays, but in uncomplicated birth, that can turn complicated suddenly still happens. I also really love how the show progresses through the sexual revolution, and addresses issues, like thalidomide, abortion, birth control, etc.

[diannedelledera]

I don't think that there will ever be a show that will top Call the Midwife! 100 stars 🌟 to the writers, actors, set designers, costume designers, research assistants! I have watched ever episode several times and always cry, laugh, and think! One would hope that today's society has become more caring, more thoughtful, more understanding and supportive, more loving by learning about the hardships, struggles, and victories of the very recent past. A million thank yous to all of you for all your hard work and professionalism and for sharing your talents with us.

[donnaallgaier-lamberti]

This is amazing to hear from the actual cast member themselves this way. I grew up in the 1950's and we were fortunately middle class when the men came back from the war and a housing boom was happening. My first home was a small brick bungalow that was built with after war money and the Gi Bill which helped my dad to buy that home. By the 19We were living in a a second, only slighlty bigger home in a family neighborhood. We had four children, two adults in tiny two bedroom/one bathroom home. My two brothers slept in the unheated breezeway. We had one vehicle that my dad drove to work and my stay at home step-mom brought her two children to this second marriage. I don't ever remember going hungry but we worked hard to get and prepare our food and we ate a lot of gross canned vegetables. Only on Sundays did we have a chicken or a pot roast baking in the oven while we went to church. We drove an hour or so to pick apples and peaches that we canned and my step mother sewed almost all of our clothing. We only has home haircuts and perms, but every one in our neighborhood was in the same situation, multiple children, mothers at home and children in school and father off to work. I think the big difference was that the war had not touch the architecture of the USA the way it had Europe so while live was lived very thrifty it was not the hardship that England and other countries had to bear.

[shirleymattingly]

Well. I literally just this moment finished season 11. Have been binge watching for weeks. This show has helped me "feel" again ... I commend the writer. And have fallen in love with ALL the characters. Really miss Chummy 💘 hope she comes back... Every person in this show has my heartfelt thanks... Gives me faith in humainity

[joolzg]

I'm a retired Labor /Delivery nurse. Love this programme and the accuracy. Thanks for making this documentary.

[pamshaffer]

When my mom was pregnant with me, she had terrible morning sickness. She was given a prescription that was supposed to help, (she doesn't remember the name of the medication). Her nausea was so bad taking the pill would immediately cause her to vomit, so she gave up trying to take them. I was born in early 1962. I think we may have dodged a bullet.

[candacemeifert-polk]

This is, without a doubt, one of the best series on TV. I absolutely love all the characters and the realistic stories! Thank you

[rm]

I've watched the series several times. I was going through a really rough time and living a bad lifestyle. But this show was something that I used as an inspiration to regain my drive to live life in a meaningful way. The combination of the Sisters and Midwives gave me new role models. It was hard to leave my past, and very lonely. That's how I managed to watch the series so frequently. But I am doing well now and working in a position that is a true vocation. Life is a blessing. Thank you so much for making this series! This is a wonderful way to share the stories of some of the real life in people who are connected to these stories.

[maggiepaul]

My aunt was born in the very early 1950s in Texas and was diagnosed with severe autism as a very young child. There was so much misunderstanding and so little support for parents, hell they were blaming mothers for their children's autism at that time, that it breaks my heart. I'm glad that this series has been so thoughtful and careful in the stories they tell and the *way* they tell those stories.