Call the Midwife

Yes I know I should get out more and stop watching so much tv, but I'm a real sucker for period dramas, and particularly if they are set in the 50's and 60's. It's not so much the fanciful story lines of the likes of 'Heartbeat' and 'The Royal' that attract me, as the sheer nostalgic 'high' they provide with the attention to period detail. So it was in this vein that I set out to watch the new Sunday evening offering from BBC1 'Call the Midwife'. 

I thought it might be a little different, having been based upon the real-life memoirs of a midwife starting out on her career in London's East End and during the early formative years of the National Health Service. Conscious that on occasion I have been accused of looking back at the past through rose-tinted glasses, I was reassured to read a complimentary review of the drama in the Sunday Times by social historian David Kynaston no less. It was certainly his view that this particular portrayal was realistic and true-to-life, and I think I have to agree. 

Even though I'm not old enough to have many personal memories of the period, much chimes with anecdotal stories I've heard. In fact it's fascinating to reflect that my own mother established a life-long friendship with the midwife that saw me into the world. Of course these were the heady days of the NHS when the Nation was still coming to terms with the novelty of 'free' health care and it's worth reminding ourselves every now and then just what A Wonderful Thing it is, whatever our American cousins may think. It was also pre Seebhom Report and before social work had established itself as a distinctive discipline and function of the State. This drama very neatly spans the period of transition from what might be termed well-meaning charitable endeavour to that of vocational professionalism.

What really strikes me about this portrayal is that the nurses, whether part of the Holy Order or not, are basically making things up as they go along and responding to situations intuitively. Ok they have undergone training in relation to pre and post natal care in the community, but they are also inventing social work as they follow their 'calling' or vocation. Current practitioners in the social care field cannot but marvel at the almost complete absence of management, bureaucracy, policies, procedures and risk assessments. These were the days of a 'can do' approach to every aspect of the work and the only boundaries were those that were self-imposed by each individual as they simply did what they felt was appropriate in each case.

This certainly chimes with my early days post qualification as a social worker and newly-appointed Probation Officer in a small field office. I well remember very experienced officers describing how they often worked long into the evening going from door-to-door visiting clients in their homes. The officers were clearly a trusted part of the community and it was not unusual to discuss things with the whole family, stay for tea, exchange Christmas cards and even attend weddings, Christenings and funerals. Despite my inexperience, I also felt empowered to do whatever I felt appropriate in each of my cases. Team meetings made decisions by democratic means and often out-voted the Senior Probation Officer - a sort of 'first' amongst equals in those days!  But of course things were changing and eventually the bloody computer arrived.  

It would be futile and I'm not trying to pretend that everything was better back in the old days, but I find this drama a powerful reminder of just what we've lost along the way towards today's modern professional practitioners. I suppose there couldn't be a starker illustration than that provided by yet another new BBC 1 tv programme, 'Protecting our Children' where a social worker conducts a home visit accompanied by two security guards for FFS!