Doctor Reacts: Dangerous Pregnancy Termination | Call The Midwife

Seeing a whole lot of - “I am pro-life and would never have an abortion for myself, but I also am not in favor of the government removing that choice for others” - y’all. This is pro-choice. You do not have to choose abortion for yourself to be pro-choice - you have to support the opportunity of the people to choose and oppose the government making that choice for the people. I know it takes a lot of deconstructing to unlearn the things were taught growing up, but you don’t have to keep yourself in a box just because you were told you belong there.

Just to remind people, the first 3 seasons of Call the Midwife are based on Jennifer Worth's (the young nurse/midwife in this show) memoirs of her actual experiences working in the east end of London in the 50s. The actual stoy this episode was based on was even more horrifying. In real life, Nora's second attempt with the herbalist did not work. She remained pregnant and her husband showed up on the doorstep of Nonnatus House in the middle of the night when she had the baby. When they arrived, the baby had been delivered, full term, into a chamber pot. The baby was still laying face down in the chamber pot, filled with amniotic fluid, blood, and the afterbirth, nonresponsive and was unable to be revived. It is heavily implied the parents intentionally drowned the baby intentionally out of desperation. Both just said "It came so fast and we didn't know what to do" and refused to answer whether or not the baby took a breath or cried after birth.They were not prosecuted. Not only does lack of access lead to unsafe termination, it also leads to infanticide.

i adore call the midwife and no matter how many rewatches… “nora’s life was saved by doctors who asked no questions” still hits so. hard. every time

This is how my great grandmother died. Married 9 years, pregnant with her 10th child. She had just buried her 8month old baby. My grandmother was just over 2 years old. My great aunt was 10 at the time. To put it gently, my aunt said that seeing her mothers struggle firmly cemented her choice to never get married or have children. She was content with her siblings children and grand children. She lived with my grandma (who we also lived with) and she was an amazing woman who I miss every day.

Call the Midwife is a show that, quite frankly, planted me firmly in the pro-choice camp. I had been quite strongly on the other side, from my teen years, for religious and ethical reasons. 2 very hard pregnancies landed me in the "terrified to have another baby" camp, and realizing that if I, despite a strong devotion to God, was in that place, how dare I ask anyone else to go through it? Then, knowing enough history to realize that the scenarios that "CTM" portrays are not sensationalized, and demonstrate just how complicated and dangerous so many pregnancies are... that was all it took. I feel like that show does the best job of really portraying the human cost of societies "big" systems.

I remember being a school nurse and on staff development day we were asked what we would do if a pregnant student came into our office. I answered honestly and said, "I would tell them they have three choices: To parent, to adopt, or to have an abortion. And whatever they chose, I would give them resources." I was told that if the state where I lived found out about what I said, they would go after my license to practice. This was years before Roe v. Wade was abolished. Abortion was legal nationwide--including where I lived. The state would attempt to get between the sacred relationship I have with every patient I care for and attempt to force me illegally to go against the responsibilities I have to tell my patients the truth. Those who choose anti-choice legislation choose death. Of pregnant people AND of babies.

I'm the youngest of 9 children (I'm 41 now) and after I came, my mom had her tubes tied. I asked my elder sister and, apparently, she had tried going on the pill but she didn't do well with the very strong side effects that came with the birth controll in its early stages, and she eventually decided to get her tubes tied in the 80's and didn't have any trouble. My homeland is very catholic (southern Europe) and my mom told me that some woman in our family cut all relations with her after she had her tubes tied because it was against God's will. My mom's response to that, being a catholic herself, was simply: "Good riddance.". My mom rocked <3

I was abused at 8 and got my period at 9. I was adopted by my grandparents and years later my mom (I started calling my grandma mom) had said how scared she was for me and how she would have gone to such great lengths to get me an abortion if needed especially since I was so small at that age.

“Until my field of medicine is no longer a political pawn, I will continue to talk about political topics here including abortion” I love that. Good job mama doctor jones ❤ you are the best. Thank you for your voice on this most sensitive and important topic

My parents raised me very pro life. We were Mormon. Then my mom decided to become a midwife. She was in a class when she made the comment that she was pro life. Her instructor looked at her and said that if she’s pro life, she has no business being in midwifery. That it was about the woman as a patient more so over the baby they are carrying. She then went into explaining all the reasons why. It really hit home with my mother and she realized why having choices is necessary. I remember her coming home and telling me that she was pro choice and I was dumbfounded and couldn’t understand. When she explained it to me, I realized as well, how necessary it was. I am so grateful to have parents that taught me that when we know better, we do better. That learning new information can change your view and opinion on things. That having understanding and compassion for others without ever going through what they have is important.

I know you must get a ton of hate for videos like this, but THANK YOU. It is so important to have the medical POV heard. Thank you for taking a stand for women everywhere.

I told my sister that women would die as a result of roe va wade being overturned. He response was “they deserve it”. I lost all respect for her that day.

my Nan was born in 1928 and had her first child by 1946 and her ninth and final child in 1970. She passed away earlier this year. When she was alive it was a joke in my family that "Nan couldnt keep her legs closed" or that she'd had a ridiculous amount of children - as if it was all her choice. It was watching this episode of Call the Midwife some years ago that made me realise how cruel and thoughtless we'd all been towards her. We had a modern mindset and didnt think for a second about how the contraceptive we all have free easy access to, simply wasnt there, or that it was so frowned upon to take, or that Nan's religious beliefs lead her to have so many children, or that her husband wouldnt consent to her taking birth control. In the UK we assume today that if you have a child it's by choice. I know that's not always the case, but back in my Nan's time, and before, it certainly wasn't. As much as I hate to think "did she wish my Dad/my aunts and uncles, hadnt been born?", I dont blame her whatsoever if she did think that. Did they ruin her life like Nora was worried about in this episode? Did she harm herself in the hopes it would put off there being another mouth to feed? I am utterly disgusted by the 'pro-life' / forced birth community and their blatant disregard for the safety and wellbeing of those who are pregnant. It's not always a choice to become pregnant, but it should always be a choice on whether or not to stay pregnant/have a child. I will always fight to maintain the right to free contraceptives and abortions in my country, and in the efforts towards this right in other countries. I'm not expecting anyone to read this comment; I just felt like I had to put my apology to my Nan into words. I'm so sorry.

When the character talks about taking Epsom salts she also mentioned turpes, which is short for turpentine, it's a British paint thinner, back then was very toxic probably more so than now. So her plan would be to drink paint thinner and make her self so sick she would loss the baby. It hard to imagine women being so desperate they would drink paint thinner, but it happened.

My grandmother was a devout Catholic but she was also born in 1935 and came of age in the early 50's she was also pro choice and sadly lost many friends due to self induced abortion. One of her friends died in her arms, she described the blood and the smell so vividly it was obviously one of the most traumatic things she ever experienced! We have to live in a world where everyone has access to safe health care options!

When I first got pregnant, it wasn't planned. I was also not really in a good place to start a family. During the first consultation where the home pregnancy test was confirmed, I was informed about the steps to take if I were to proceed or abort. I was given a choice, and I made my choice. She is 15 this year, and has two younger siblings. But I chose to have that baby, and she is in my life because I wanted her. What a lot of people fail to understand is that pro-choice is NOT anti-life.

I think the worst part is that people making the laws to end safe termination access likely do NOT care that people are dying from the consequences of unsafe termination

“If I can’t get rid of it, I’m gonna get rid of myself.” 7:49 That line gets me tearing up every time, and I very rarely cry watching stuff. Thank you. I can only imagine how gut-wrenching that must have been to watch as a medical professional, but rest assured, your input on hot-button issues is more than just welcome, it is desperately needed.

My father's father had a cousin who passed away from an unsuccessful abortion at a young age in the late 50s. "She had her whole life ahead of her...but no choices" my dad said. So many of these stories are still in living memory and will continue to be a part of life if we don't allow choices.

A woman is punished for turning her husband down for sex And called an immoral floozy if she uses birth control And told "if you can't afford children don't have them"