“The ordinary seldom seems miraculous. … We let our routines nourish us without a second thought. This is who we are … This is what we do.” 

Jennifer Worth’s words (as spoken by Vanessa Redgrave) ring true enough at the start of the episode. Sometimes as the viewer we forget that we are watching a series based on THE actual work of an Order of Sisters in the East End of London. 

While Nonnatus House is fictional, the real Sisters who served the people of Poplar were not. They were of the Religious Sisters of Saint John the Divine (the order established in 1848) who lived and worked at St. Frideswide’s Mission House in the East End in Poplar. 

Jennifer Worth was a midwife who worked in the East End in the 1950s to 60s. The Sisters who lived and worked in Poplar were trained as nurses and midwives — they also served in Crimea, working with Florence Nightingale. They were invited to Poplar in the 1880s by the Church of All Saints, Poplar, to serve the East End community. 

Not all of the midwives were Sisters, as you also see on the show. Some young midwives from the Church of All Saints, Poplar, worked there as well. The midwives became enmeshed in the community and part of every family’s story. 

I know longtime fans of the show likely know this history, but those who have joined perhaps a few seasons in may not. 

When I watch these episodes and think about what a saving grace this literal sisterhood of midwives was for the community and families of Poplar, it’s almost unfathomable what they accomplished… in the course of going about their day-to-day work, in doing what seemed very ordinary, they were indeed miraculous. 

Poplar had been devastated during WWII, and though the National Health Service was created in 1948 with the purpose of providing universal healthcare to all citizens, it was still in its infancy in the 1950s and 60s, leaving many gaps in public health. 

The midwives of Poplar filled those gaps, caring not only for women and babies, but entire families, in their roles as midwives and public health nurses. In short, they became a backbone to the community, earning the trust of families through the delivery of safe, evidence-based care. 

Why, you may be asking, am I focusing on the actual history of the fictional Nonnatus house in this blog? Because, friends, the lessons we can take from their example could serve as a model to help us with the current maternal-child crisis in the US. …if ONLY Americans would open their eyes to the undeniable data supporting midwifery care. 

Nurse Trixie’s (played by Helen George) response when asked by the other midwives what she missed about the UK, while in the U.S. briefly just after her marriage, was a timely reflection that is unfortunately still so accurate today. 

She said, “I missed the respect for midwifery we’re so used to over here.” Boom… mic drop.