Very touching episode. So the sad consequences of the confident prescribing of thalidomide last series are inflicted on the helpless and innocent.
For once, Vanessa Redgrave's usually vomit-inducing summary was spot-on.
If there aren't any skeletons in a man's closet, there's probably a Bertha in his attic.
Oh I agree with you entirely, this was such a sad episode. I had a friend at school affected by thalidomide, what a cruel side effect of the drug.
I was almost in tears at times during this episode.
It was extremely sad and touching. The sad thing is also that Dr. Turner was shown prescribing thalidomide to another woman in the last season so clearly a few got it in the East End and they will have more births like this and start putting the pieces together. Thalidomide was taken off the market in 1961 due to its effects.
I'm really glad that they decided to cover the issue on Call the Midwife as it was a major tragedy and had such a huge impact on thousands of lives.
Pretty incredible use of the animatronic/CGI baby as well.
shareJust got around to watching this last night. I came onto the Messageboard to see what people said about the baby, because I couldn't work out whether it was CGI or an actual baby, it was that convincing!
Touching episode, as my own brother has "water on the brain" as also mentioned during the episode and was born around the same period; he has survived (with fairly extensive disabilities) but it was tough to see the "let's just hope it dies during the night" view being taken by the specialists.
it was tough to see the "let's just hope it dies during the night" view being taken by the specialists.
I also enjoyed the first episode, I thought season 4 wasn't as good as usual, mostly I guess because Jenny had left, Chummy was busy else where, and Sister Evangelina was ill. Now we seem to have settled the new cast in, it made for a wonderful episode.
shareIt was a fantastic episode and this coming series looks like it will be one of the best. I'm already looking forward to next week.
shareIt was superb. The actors who played the mother and father were phenomenal.
I remember seeing some of the grown thalidomide babies on the television in the 1980s, campaigning for answers and compensation.
It's still ongoing: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jun/05/thalidomide-victims-launch-high-court-battle
they were wonderful. great acting from everyone. I was very moved by this episode
shareThis episode just rocked me to my core. I have brother born with spina bifida in our catholic hospital and the doctor just said to my dad that they would just let him die and my father said he grabbed the doctor by the arm and told him to do everything they could to save him. He now works with me, 43 years later at our business and I'm so glad my father intervened. I just cried and cried during this episode because I can't imagine my life without my brother. He is super smart, just needs a wheelchair. Life can be so cruel.
shareIn which episodes did they show Dr. Turner prescribing thalidomide
shareThanks for pointing that out, I missed that. Since they seemed to be focusing on the mom over working herself I thought they had implied it had something to do with that. My attention span wasn't fully engaged.
shareJust to clarify, the mother in this episode isn't the same woman that was prescribed thalidomide in series 4. Also, the birth defects haven't yet been attributed to the drug. It will obviously take the medical profession some time to connect all the cases and find the common denominator. At the moment, this just appears to be a random case.
If there aren't any skeletons in a man's closet, there's probably a Bertha in his attic.
They will probably start putting the pieces together soon, more children affected by thalidomide must be born on the show later in the series and it won't take long for dr. Turner or one of the nurses to spot that all the women had been prescribed thalidomide. Thalidomide was also taken off the market in 1961, the year the show is on now, because of public pressure.
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