Terri Coates is an experienced midwife who advises the production team for the
BBC TV show. She also draws on her relationships with retired midwives and
doctors who worked during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, when the show is set.
The birth scenes are simulated, but they’re so well done that many viewers assume
that they’re real.
The show (based pretty closely on the memoir of midwife Jennifer Worth) has vastly
increased the number of students applying for midwifery training, because it
highlights the inspiring combination of skill, teamwork, and compassion that the
profession requires.
Those of us who critique media portrayal of childbirth are thrilled by “Call the
Midwife.” Plus…don’t you just love Chummy?
Read about Terri Coates in The Guardian