Episode 13.4 of Call the Midwife happens amidst the backdrop of the Apollo 11 moon landing, an appropriately celestial event as we approach the solar eclipse! And what a symbolic event to illustrate how much life has changed for Nonnatus house and the midwives. Consider that Season 1 found them picking their way through the rubble and broken buildings of postwar London, and now they are watching on a television as men walk on the moon. While Neil Armstrong was thinking of space exploration when he declares his “giant leap for mankind,” it’s not hard to look around the streets of Poplar and recognize similar, simultaneous giant leaps in modernization and quality of life.
This theme of change and modernization continues with the story of the Chidozie family and Nancy’s discovery of her own connection with tuberculosis. Tuberculosis used to be a death sentence – and unfortunately this was the case for Mr. Chidozie suffering with advanced disease and Nancy’s family who died prior to modern medicine. However, as Dr. Turner notes, tuberculosis is now treatable with modern antibiotics and preventable with a vaccination.
But alongside modernization (as always) comes reluctance to change. While aware of Trixie’s passion for midwifery, Matthew is beginning to chafe at what he sees as her prioritization of her career over her role as wife and mother. He calls her while she is working, cranky about having to care for his son and nursing a headache, and Trixie is frustrated by the distraction and ultimately makes flustered mistakes in her care of a postpartum mother. The episode ends with Trixie drawing clear lines between her work and home life – in the hopes that by separating them she can fully immerse herself in each.
While I think anyone who juggles a home life and rewarding career could identify with Trixie’s struggle, I think working moms (like me!) can especially empathize with the tug-of-war between career and motherhood and their sometimes-competing priorities. Here’s hoping Trixie can find an equilibrium that brings her happiness!
Una Sammon, CNM, has been a practicing certified nurse-midwife since 2019. She attends births at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
