S07.E05: Episode 5

[willowk]

I too thought the continuity was off between this episode and last week's. I thought Trixie wouldn't be in this episode, that she was going off to some clinic to deal with her alcohol problem. Then this week she's off to visit a wealthy relative in Italy, Hopefully all she needs is some R & R to get her off the booze but that's not how it usually works. And last week she tearfully tells Christopher they can't see each other anymore, even as "just friends",and so that means -he shows up to drive her to the airport? And pick her up -as just friends? I like them together, but something isn't right with how they wrote or edited the story. Am glad Barbara's back, and liked the subplot about the picnic and Violet's organizing.

[AllAboutMBTV]

Thank you, PreviouslyTV PTB for ALH's fantastic old-school recaps. More, pleaseandthankyou! And I agree with ALH and the above posters that something is wonky with this season. It's not gone so far off the rails that I wouldn't watch it, but something's... off. Is it fatigue? Have they run out of stories to tell? At this point, I'm mainly watching it for the excellent Linda Basset. (Also, I would totally watch a three-part miniseries of Trixie swanning around '60s Portofino.)

[Deskisamess]

Anyone else wants the cute coats Trixie had in the last couple of episodes?

[SunnyBeBe]

I checked and the creator/head writer and other writer are the same.  Different director though.  I'm not sure if that explains it.  

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1983079/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ql_1

If I had not known that Sister Winifred knew Barbara and Tom, I'd not know it from the way she ran out of the door on a call. Granted, it's an emergency, but, you can yell greetings as you run off.  It was so strange, imo.  It's just one of many others that is frustrating. And what about the cake they brought...I must have missed something. Is one small cake enough for a group of people on a picnic?  

I'll likely keep watching.  I've followed this show from the beginning. It's such a shame to see it go off the rails though.  Maybe, it's time to let it end. 

Edited April 16, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[jschoolgirl]

I don't think it's gone off the rails, but I think Pam Ferris' departure was a great loss. Sister Julienne seems not to be as much of a quietly firm and devout presences this year. We see less of the sisters in community. The war and Poplar's poverty are less of an influence on the stories as time goes on, naturally, although references to the war like Fred's last week are rarer. Sister Evangelina was Classic Poplar, although we have Val to offer some authenticity. Community activities and households like the Turners' and the Buckleses' are giving a more and more Mayberry-like feel.

I'm not saying I want grim slum drama, but social changes mean storytelling adjustments that can change tone, which in turn means adjustments for the viewers. For some viewers, it could mean adjusting to "off". 

[3 is enough]

I just love Lucille.  That is all.

[Sarah 103]

17 hours ago, Bonzie said:

Glad to see Christopher again. Don't you give up on her, guy. She'll finally see the light.

He's cute and he has a great car so I'm for almost any excuse that will keep him on the show. 

5 hours ago, sigmaforce86 said:

It's funny how some characters grab you right away.  Ade is one of those, I kept thinking could they have him recover and come back to Nonnatus as the new handyman or something? 

I love this idea.  

[AnnieBeez]

I found it very odd that Lucille went to Dr Turner (seemingly first) about Eunice and not one of the older midwives, preferably Sister Julienne. Midwives would have been more likely than a GP to have seen it before. The woman had been traumatized and very probably physically damaged by a doctor. And as we saw while she was giving birth, he knew enough to stay away from her. 

I kept thinking that we'd seen a woman afraid to give birth in earlier seasons. She ran away? Or am I thinking of the woman who knew she'd give birth to a biracial baby? I remember a young woman running away, though. hmmm...

Dr Turner seems to be showing up a lot more than he did in earlier seasons. I don't like it, or the actor, or his furrowed "concern" brow. 

[Janie430]

I'm hoping they're building up to a story about Sister Julienne's struggles with her life and the future of Nonnatus House. 

In the first season, there were four nuns working as practicing midwives and nurses, but there were other nuns at evening devotionals.  Now it's just three nuns.  Mary Cynthia, who she helped find her way into the convent has left for an extended (probably permanent) leave of absence to deal with her trauma issues.  Sister Evangelina, who was her right hand man, and had been around as long as she had, has passed away.  Sister Bernadette who was similar to a little sister, has left the order for marriage and children.  And you don't see her and Sister Winifred interacting that much.  The one old-time nun who is still there is Sister Monica Joan, who has dementia, and cannot do work around the place.  Plus, she's been tending for Sister Monica Joan for six years at least.  That's emotionally exhausting, and you're not vaccinated against it by a vocation.

I think she's tired, and being quietly snarky and eye-rolling.  Examples include Val and the beauty context, making that comment about the surgery to Sister Monica Joan, and even kind of being like "yes, isn't it sad to see Abe go (not)".  

I hope this is a deliberate acting choice, and it's going somewhere, otherwise, I'm reading way to much into this storyline.

[MissLucas]

1 hour ago, jschoolgirl said:

I don't think it's gone off the rails, but I think Pam Ferris' departure was a great loss. Sister Julienne seems not to be as much of a quietly firm and devout presences this year. We see less of the sisters in community. 

This! The loss of Sister Evangelina is still felt. She and Sister Julienne pretty much formed the heart of Nonnatus House for me- they had a great relationship. Both the characters and the actresses were completing each other and that made a great dynamic. I had expected Nurse Crane to rise to a similar position. It would make a great pairing and the fact that Phyllis is an open atheist would actually add an interesting element. I also think it would save Sister Julienne from becoming a shadow of herself as the recap puts it. Her quiet presence needs another, more energetic character to bounce off.

I really think that the off-feeling of this season (its lost charm) has to do with a lack of attention to character-writing in Nonnatus House. Sister Julienne has morphed into the background.  With Trixie side-lined only Nurse Crane is currently standing out as a true character but her impact is mostly limited to cases of the week.

At the danger of repeating myself: stop writing Sister Winifred as if she just wandered from the set of Sister Act into this show. Let her struggle with modern times, let her finally dogmatically rip and allow her to voice opinions that a modern audience might not embrace. Or give her a love-story but this time with a different ending than Shelagh's - and don't write it as a tragedy. Since nuns are human it's not unusual for them to experience romantic feelings. (I know that Sister Julienne did have such a plot  but we only got the flashback version so to speak.) 

Val and Lucille are also in need of better writing. We know a bit about Val's history but she still feels oddly life-less to me (compare her to season one's Chummy). Lucille is still new so it might be unfair to criticize the writing for her - but so far her outstanding characteristic is perfection and that can become boring pretty fast.

[J-Man]

2 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

If I had not known that Sister Meredith knew Barbara and Tom

I think you meant Sister Winifred. There is no Sister Meredith.

If Trixie were going to rehab, would she really need to fly? I'm assuming there were suitable facilities in the UK, or at least somewhere else nearby that could have been reached in a less costly manner. So I'm tending to believe that she really did go to Italy.

The "after-show" extra this week was a total mess. First the woman is referencing Goldie Hawn as a style influencer for the hairstyles of one of the characters for 1963. No one had ever heard of Goldie Hawn (who was only 17 at the time) until at least 1967, when she appeared in "Good Morning World." And then, when discussing Lucille's look, she referenced Dyan Cannon, who not only was (1) not well-known yet, and, more importantly, (2) not black! Perhaps she was thinking of Diahann Carroll (or Diana Ross?) Anyway, that whole thing was just embarrassing.

Edited April 16, 2018 by J-Man

[Kohola3]

1 minute ago, Janie430 said:

I hope this is a deliberate acting choice, and it's going somewhere...

You may be on to something with your thoughts.

I recollect that young women entering religious service began dropping off dramatically beginning in the sixties.  Maybe the move is to see Nonnatus struggling with a drop in sisters onsite and the changes necessary to keep it up and running as childbirth moved almost exclusively into a hospital setting.

[J-Man]

53 minutes ago, AnnieBeez said:

Dr Turner seems to be showing up a lot more than he did in earlier seasons.

It pays to be married to the show's creator/executive producer.

[AuntiePam]

7 hours ago, Lion18 said:

Over 60 years ago my mom’s aunt was told to keep her legs closed during giving birth- a very very unwise doctor- and her son was born with Down syndrome and more. That was my first thought when she was squeezing her legs shut. Ugh

Same thing happened with a friend.  The doctor was "busy" when she went into labor so the nurses kept her legs closed until he arrived.  The child (in her 40's now) is developmentally delayed. 

I snorted at the reveal of Ade's condition:  Good news, it's not small pox!  It's just leprosy!  Poor guy.

Barbara and Tom could have stayed away.  The show has enough characters to track as it is.

[SunnyBeBe]

10 minutes ago, J-Man said:

I think you meant Sister Winifred. There is no Sister Meredith.

If Trixie were going to rehab, would she really need to fly? I'm assuming there were suitable facilities in the UK, or at least somewhere else nearby that could have been reached in a less costly manner. So I'm tending to believe that she really did go to Italy.

The "after-show" extra this week was a total mess. First the woman is referencing Goldie Hawn as a style influencer for the hairstyles of one of the characters for 1963. No one had ever heard of Goldie Hawn (who was only 17 at the time) until at least 1967, when she appeared in "Good Morning World." And then, when discussing Lucille's look, she referenced Dyan Cannon, who not only was (1) not well-known yet, and, more importantly, (2) not black! Perhaps she was thinking of Diahann Carroll (or Diana Ross?) Anyway, that whole thing was just embarrassing.

Yes, that's right. I made that correction. 

[MaryHedwig]

On ‎4‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 3:37 PM, Janie430 said:

In the first season, there were four nuns working as practicing midwives and nurses, but there were other nuns at evening devotionals. 

I have been worried about these evening devotional nuns for years. Who has been feeding them? Sadly, we must assume they starved to death.

Edited April 18, 2018 by MaryHedwig

[babs j.]

When the book about Rosemary Kennedy came out I read that the doctor was late getting to the house and, of course, the nurses, being women, had to wait for the man and Rosemary's delivery was delayed which may have caused her mental problems.

[jschoolgirl]

Choir nuns, as they are called, sing the Anglican office eight times a day -- Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline -- across the 24 hour period, and attend Eucharistic services daily. Way more than evening! That is their job, and it is hard work. Then there is personal prayer time, reading, and recreation. They are not part of the story we see, but we did used to at least see more nuns singing in chapel than we do now -- because they were shown.  I don't know if they are not being shown as much because of deaths and/ or a dearth of vocations, or because the showrunner just isn't depicting them at all.

The lay sisters, who do the work in the world, are the ones we see.

[Ohmo]

8 hours ago, Deskisamess said:

I can't imagine trying to stop a birth. It sounds horrible.

It was a practice that I know was done at least until 1970 (and maybe beyond that, I don't know.)  That's the year I was born, and that's what happened to me.  My mother went into labor at 7 months, and the doctors gave her alcohol.  As they were attempting to stop the labor (instead of just letting me be born), I got caught in the birth canal without oxygen.  The result was cerebral palsy, a brain injury that typically happens at birth as a result of a lack of oxygen to the brain.

[marceline]

3 hours ago, MaryHedwig said:

I have been worried about this evening devotional nuns for years. Who has been feeding them? Sadly, we must assume they starved to death.

Hee! Same. I remember seeing extra nuns in the chapel and thinking, "Who the hell are you and where did you come from? Are you a midwife? Where do you live since you obviously don't live at Nonnatus House?"

[jschoolgirl]

2 minutes ago, Ohmo said:

It was a practice that I know was done at least until 1970 (and maybe beyond that, I don't know.)  That's the year I was born, and that's what happened to me.  My mother went into labor at 7 months, and the doctors gave her alcohol.  As they were attempting to stop the labor (instead of just letting me be born), I got caught in the birth canal without oxygen.  The result was cerebral palsy, a brain injury that typically happens at birth as a result of a lack of oxygen to the brain.

I am incredulous that they did not know that there would be oxygen deprivation.

[Ohmo]

31 minutes ago, jschoolgirl said:

I am incredulous that they did not know that there would be oxygen deprivation.

Well, from what my mother has told me, she was also hemorrhaging, so I'm not sure if they were trying to prevent her from bleeding to death or what, but she said that she was given alcohol by IV, and the doctors were actively trying to stop the birth process.  Having now watched CtM, I have a difficult time believing that doctors didn't have some idea that I might already be in the birth canal, but it was a long time ago, and what's done is done.  My mom has said more than once that sometimes it's difficult for her to watch CtM, even though she enjoys it.  Sometimes, it hits her a tad close,  Episodes with babies in incubators are also not among her favorites because I was in one for awhile.

[marceline]

Add me to the "something doesn't feel the same" group.

I think part of it is that this show left the source material a while back and is now completely made up. I'd be interested to learn what the last book based story was that we've seen portrayed. Aside from that, yes the continuity this season is poor. I choose to believe that's because the show needed to accommodate real life stuff re: Helen George's pregnancy. Of course that all the more argument for PBS to run the eps intact.

I'm also tired of the teal. I appreciate the verisimilitude but I can't tell one scene from the next anymore.

[Nordly Beaumont]

5 hours ago, J-Man said:

The "after-show" extra this week was a total mess. First the woman is referencing Goldie Hawn as a style influencer for the hairstyles of one of the characters for 1963. No one had ever heard of Goldie Hawn (who was only 17 at the time) until at least 1967, when she appeared in "Good Morning World." And then, when discussing Lucille's look, she referenced Dyan Cannon, who not only was (1) not well-known yet, and, more importantly, (2) not black! Perhaps she was thinking of Diahann Carroll (or Diana Ross?) Anyway, that whole thing was just embarrassing.

Those "inspiration boards" seemed to be "and this person also had hair..."

[Lion18]

13 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Um, you do know that Down's is genetic, right?  Has nothing to do with the delivery.

I wasn’t sure if he had Down’s that’s why I added “ and more”. I was very young and haven’t seen him since I was a child. It was never explained to me what was wrong

Also I now have a masters degree in children with special needs so as a child this was the only info I was given. 

[Ohmo]

6 hours ago, MissLucas said:

At the danger of repeating myself: stop writing Sister Winifred as if she just wandered from the set of Sister Act into this show.

Yes, Sister Winifred always seems like such a ditz, even when she's working as a midwife.  I wish that would be dialed back a bit...and enough with her and driving unless she's going to be allowed to succeed.  That whole storyline came across as slapstick to me, and all it did was make her come across as incompetent.

Edited April 17, 2018 by Ohmo

[izabella]

I think some of the difference is we don't see the nurses and sisters together, or in groups, at the House as much.  The nurses used to gather in someone's room at night and share stories and form bonds.  That gave us the opportunity to bond with the characters, too.  Now, they don't interact that way as much, so we know them less.  I feel like I barely know the the new nurses, what they care about, what they worry about, where they come from and what they hope for.

[Badger]

The singer from the 1940's was Dorothy Dandridge who was married to Harold Nicholas of The Nicholas Brothers.  

[Bostongirl]

Nurse Crane is awesome. Doc Turner gets more whiny and condescending every episode. If he is so stressed can't he hire another assistant. How did the stowaway sailor not die of thirst, Reggie brought him cake but no water? Weird episode

[txhorns79]

Quote

I don't think it's gone off the rails, but I think Pam Ferris' departure was a great loss. Sister Julienne seems not to be as much of a quietly firm and devout presences this year. We see less of the sisters in community. 

I feel a real sense of the show treading water, and largely being out of ideas. 

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's Previously.TV's EPIC OLD-SCHOOL RECAP of the episode!

Should You Even Call The Midwife If A Woman Is Refusing To Give Birth?

And: things get Biblical when the Nonnatans heal a leper in our latest EPIC OLD-SCHOOL RECAP.

[libgirl2]

19 hours ago, AuntiePam said:

Same thing happened with a friend.  The doctor was "busy" when she went into labor so the nurses kept her legs closed until he arrived.  The child (in her 40's now) is developmentally delayed. 

I snorted at the reveal of Ade's condition:  Good news, it's not small pox!  It's just leprosy!  Poor guy.

Barbara and Tom could have stayed away.  The show has enough characters to track as it is.

When I saw that, I remember that they say that is what happened to Rosemary Kennedy. 

17 hours ago, babs j. said:

When the book about Rosemary Kennedy came out I read that the doctor was late getting to the house and, of course, the nurses, being women, had to wait for the man and Rosemary's delivery was delayed which may have caused her mental problems.

You beat me to it. 

[AllAboutMBTV]

Dear PBS: Save the after-show extras for the DVDs and show us the complete UK versions of the episodes. I hate it when I come across a missing scene in the Old-School Recap (bless you, ALH).

[peggy06]

I agree with those who feel this season is missing something.  Possible reasons to me are:

Less midwifery

Less of the Sisters

Midwives are lone wolves who rarely seem to hang around together

Less of Poplar as a community and less connection between Nonnatus and Poplar (Poplar was almost like a character, but now it seems like this could be happening just anywhere.)

Poorer storylines

Less well-realized cast of characters

I binge-watched the first six seasons and was excited to get to watch in real time, but it's been disappointing. It's not just this season. The show's been losing steam for a while.  The first three seasons are by far my favorites. There are still good moments - Nurse Crane breaking down over having hit a child with her car stands out to me. I still get teary whenever a baby is born. But the old camaraderie and magic are gone. Well, even good shows must come to an end.

Edited April 18, 2018 by peggy06
Clarity

[proserpina65]

I don't actually think this season is missing anything.  Times have changed, practices have change, people have moved on just like they would have in real life.  Yes, it's different, but it's because of natural changes.

[LadyChaos]

I loved Ade, I hope we see him again.  

I don't think Trixie went to rehab, she said she was going to see her Godmother in another country.  

[Kohola3]

2 minutes ago, LadyChaos said:

I don't think Trixie went to rehab, she said she was going to see her Godmother in another country.  

But the reason she's leaving is to deal with her alcoholism.  What will going to her godmother's accomplish unless she's some sort of counselor.  I think it was a cover story for checking into rehab, maybe in Switzerland.  They had all kinds of clinics for all kinds of problems.

[JTM]

6 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I don't actually think this season is missing anything.  Times have changed, practices have change, people have moved on just like they would have in real life.  Yes, it's different, but it's because of natural changes.

I agree. I think what we're actually seeing -- and we're experiencing how dispiriting I suspect it was for many -- is the actual changes on the ground in Poplar.

[doodlebug]

5 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

But the reason she's leaving is to deal with her alcoholism.  What will going to her godmother's accomplish unless she's some sort of counselor.  I think it was a cover story for checking into rehab, maybe in Switzerland.  They had all kinds of clinics for all kinds of problems.

However, back in 1963, there were virtually no residential rehab centers, they just didn't exist.  At least here in the US, the couple of residential rehab facilities that were around catered exclusively to men (see Hazelden in Minnesota). It wasn't until the mid to late 70's that residential treatment became popular and the Betty Ford Center opened in the 80's.  Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in the late 30's and was fairly well known in the early 60's and we've seen Trixie attending what appear to be AA meetings.  I think she doesn't have a residential option, so, since she's found it very difficult to curb her drinking while dealing with her heartbreak over Christopher and her duties as a midwife; she has decided to get away from her stresses and responsibilities by visiting her aunt.  

If the show had shown Trixie heading off for inpatient rehab someplace, it would've been an anachronism.

[Anothermi]

On 4/16/2018 at 7:03 PM, marceline said:

Add me to the "something doesn't feel the same" group.

I think part of it is that this show left the source material a while back and is now completely made up. I'd be interested to learn what the last book based story was that we've seen portrayed. Aside from that, yes the continuity this season is poor. I choose to believe that's because the show needed to accommodate real life stuff re: Helen George's pregnancy. Of course that all the more argument for PBS to run the eps intact.

I'm also tired of the teal. I appreciate the verisimilitude but I can't tell one scene from the next anymore.

Bit in Bold (BIB). While they have left the source material provided by Jenny's book a few seasons ago, the stories not not exactly "completely made up". They regularly consult midwives and they research historical situations. The stories are no longer based on Jenny Worth's book, but they are real stories rendered for TV.

[Anothermi]

On 4/17/2018 at 5:02 AM, txhorns79 said:

I feel a real sense of the show treading water, and largely being out of ideas. 

I think Helen George's pregnancy had a derailing effect but the biggest issue the show faces is the increasing use of hospital births and resulting decrease in use of mid-wives in this period.  Hopefully next series will consciously address this issue. Having said that, I think the disjointedness is probably an accurate representation of the experience of midwives and Nuns who did midwifery in this transition period.

The increase in importance of the NHS (national health service) and it's affect on the experience of child-birth is the over arching story during this time period.  A main character's availability (Helen) is the "spanner in the works" for coherent  plot lines.

Edited April 19, 2018 by Anothermi
spelling

[Clanstarling]

On 2/19/2018 at 11:04 AM, snowwhyte said:

I hadn't heard about tokophobia but I don't understand how any woman is not terrified at the thought of giving birth especially if they watch Call the Midwife. 

When I went to childbirth classes in the 80's, which were supposed to calm you down and prepare you mentally, I grew more and more freaked out - and THEN they pulled out the forceps - which are HUGE. That may have been the last class, thank goodness, because my child was kind enough to come early (and fast enough for a sitcom childbirth - one hour between feeling the first - but constant - contraction to birth).

On 4/15/2018 at 6:48 PM, Nordly Beaumont said:

I wish Sheilagh hadn't gone from curlers to perfectly coiffed hair when Lucille called her to Eunice's. Sheilagh doesn't seem like the type to spend time styling when there's a mother in trouble. I know it would be unlikely she'd leave the house in curlers, but they should have had her show up with a ponytail and scarf or made her hair look like she did it in the car.

Yeah, that bugged a bit.

On 4/15/2018 at 6:59 PM, jschoolgirl said:

Was there really a legitimate 1963-era reason they couldn't start vaccinating without confirmation of the case? Or was that because it's tee vee?

I think in any era, the vaccination wouldn't be useful for imminent exposure, as the vaccine needs time to work before the immunity sets in.

On 4/16/2018 at 8:02 AM, Driad said:

An ancestor of mine was exposed to smallpox in the late 1830s but she had been vaccinated, which did not sound unusual from the family story. This was in rural Maine, more than a century before CTM. 

Abigail Adams had her kids vaccinated in the 1770's.

On 4/16/2018 at 1:37 PM, Janie430 said:

In the first season, there were four nuns working as practicing midwives and nurses, but there were other nuns at evening devotionals.  Now it's just three nuns.  Mary Cynthia, who she helped find her way into the convent has left for an extended (probably permanent) leave of absence to deal with her trauma issues.  Sister Evangelina, who was her right hand man, and had been around as long as she had, has passed away.  Sister Bernadette who was similar to a little sister, has left the order for marriage and children.  And you don't see her and Sister Winifred interacting that much.  The one old-time nun who is still there is Sister Monica Joan, who has dementia, and cannot do work around the place.  Plus, she's been tending for Sister Monica Joan for six years at least.  That's emotionally exhausting, and you're not vaccinated against it by a vocation.

I thought "they couldn't spend a few bucks on extras?"

On 4/16/2018 at 7:37 PM, Nordly Beaumont said:

Those "inspiration boards" seemed to be "and this person also had hair..."

Good one!

[rhys]

Since I'm late to CtM, was it ever explained why the nuns had straps holding their veils on?

[Kohola3]

58 minutes ago, rhys said:

Since I'm late to CtM, was it ever explained why the nuns had straps holding their veils on?

Not that I recall. I would imagine it's much like any other nun's habit - it's been passed down over hundreds of years and never changes much but the reasons for certain aspects are lost to the ages.

[Omeletsmom]

On 4/16/2018 at 11:19 AM, Deskisamess said:

I'm pretty sure that "keep your legs closed waiting for the doctor" is what happened to Rosemary Kennedy. The nurse delayed the birth, and she was stuck in the birth canal for 2 hours, causing oxygen deprivation.

Down Syndrome of course is a chromosomal issue, and has nothing to do with birth trauma.

I gave to birth to 4 babies, all unmedicated. I can't imagine trying to stop a birth. It sounds horrible.

That happened to my aunt; according to my mom, the nurse would not let her push because they were waiting for the doctor. My cousin was born profoundly brain damaged and spent her life in an institution.  I would have thought even in the late 40s/early 50s they would have known better.

[Willowsmom]

It doesn't bother me that Sheilagh was so fast with the french twist. I watched my grandmother and mom be able to put their hair up in less than a minute. Your hair kinda trains into the style and doesn't fight back.

[Brookside]

On 4/15/2018 at 6:59 PM, jschoolgirl said:

Was there really a legitimate 1963-era reason they couldn't start vaccinating without confirmation of the case? Or was that because it's tee vee?

Thalidomide?

[Willowsmom]

I do know that if you've already been exposed (and they didn't know who might have been) a vaccine can make you sicker. In jr high we had an outbreak of mumps. The kids that ran out and got the vaccine (it was fairly new then) wound up in the hospital, the rest of us recovered easily at home.

[athousandclowns]

On April 20, 2018 at 2:59 PM, Omeletsmom said:

That happened to my aunt; according to my mom, the nurse would not let her push because they were waiting for the doctor. My cousin was born profoundly brain damaged and spent her life in an institution.  I would have thought even in the late 40s/early 50s they would have known better.

My mother was an RN and had her children in mid 40's in the hospital where she worked and when you went into labor your OBGYN was called to the hospital for the delivery.  I was pushed back in and cord was wrapped around my neck.  Yes nurses followed " doctors orders"   in the states.   I've said it before it seems that Europens were ahead of us with birthing positions etc. 

Although doctors relied on nurses because they are bedside for 8-10 hours for their patients , it took awhile for things to change.    I worked with a British nurse in the late 70's early 80's she said nurses had to stand up when a doctor came around the nurses station ( giving up their chair etc ) 

Edited April 22, 2018 by athousandclowns

[awaken]

On 4/17/2018 at 7:23 AM, Bostongirl said:

How did the stowaway sailor not die of thirst, Reggie brought him cake but no water? Weird episode

Ha, I was wondering the same thing!  A huge loaf of bread and a cake but nothing to drink. I thought when he was in his knees leaning out of the doorframe in the rain that he was going to drink from the puddles, or catch raindrops in his mouth.