Doctor Reacts: Dangerous Pregnancy Termination | Call The Midwife

[@MamaDoctorJones]

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.

[@beth_m]

My grandma said that and I told her she’s pro-choice but she thinks it’s still pro-life 😭

[@Hmm...Whats-Their-Name]

Amen!

[@snowpuppies1]

Honestly, you can be pro-life AND pro- choice.

[@batemon85]

Honestly, the older I get, the more I detest the boxes society wants us to stay in.

[@jaquellae]

Honestly that's where my pro choice journey started, the realization that it's incredibly self centered and arrogant to think my choice or judgment might apply to someone else without regard to their circumstances, judgment, or agency

[@ChaiChabeela]

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.

[@Tourmaline200]

I did not know this although I did know the stories were Jennifer's own. Thanks for the info even if the whole thing is heartbreaking

[@ChaiChabeela]

@@Tourmaline200 I definitely recommend the books. It is obviously a hard read at times, as the book goes into even harsher details and stories that wouldn't have worked well for a BBC TV show, but it is worth the read. Especially if you have an interest in history and medicine. You get a lot more info on the work house system in the second book. The audiobooks have a really good narrator as well.

[@Daymickey]

MDJ - did you know this? That’s even more 💔 heartbreaking

[@ulysses7157]

Infanticide was normal before modern medicine. Feudal Japan normalized it and called it "mabaki" or to send one back to the spirit realm. Other cultures had practices of this sort. Chinese history too had women abandoning their babies (the ones they could not care for) in the wilderness to hopefully die on it's own. Christian Europe certainly wasn't much different. I think it's less about it being a horrible practice and more about people living in a different material condition than us and having a different moral compass to suit it.

[@francescabusuttil6575]

The audio books are available on KZbin really worth a listen to anyone that's a fan of the show

[@yesikn0wimsh0rt]

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

[@peni1641]

I know a midwife who has her students watch Call the Midwife because it's so accurate.

[@americanbookdragon]

It’s based on books btw. I read the first one, but it’s a memoir trilogy.

[@yesikn0wimsh0rt]

@@americanbookdragon i know! i own one :D

[@shannonphx407]

Thank you. Thank you.

[@Klm49]

I have never loved a show so much that often has me sighing or contentedly smiling and crying uncontrollably in the same episode! God I love Call The Midwife so so much!!

[@IceNixie0102]

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.

[@amb945]

“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

[@kristiw.1823]

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.

[@AnthonyJayFoxxx]

Respect to you for be open to other peoples opinions and weighing them to yours chosing a new side of the argument, that is not easy! Bravo!

[@cassierobertson5778]

It changed my mind on abortion too.

[@afvp]

At 17 i was strongly against abortion in a referedum in my country, due to my religious and sheltered upbringing. Nowadays I completely pro choice and pro giving the right info to children/teens. My mom was against abortion but still booked the illegal appointment to have me aborted because she didn't want more children. I used her own story to make her realize how it should and it WAS her choice to have me so everyone should have the same choice

[@c.hansen3139]

I watched ONE episode and couldn't go back. Seeing a young married woman delivering her 4th in 4yrs did me in. Birth control is an amazing gift for women.

[@ashleydowney1222]

I love this show. I was pro life before watching the show. And I am still pro life now. I know that's not a popular opinion these days. I am a lot more compassionate towards women who decide to have an abortion. Even though I would never have one. And I am certain that I wouldn't do it. I am religious though. But I have met women who were atheists and pro life.

[@veevee306]

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.

[@downhomesunset]

That’s awful. People conveniently forget how oppressed women were and are today. We couldn’t vote or, in some cases, own property at the beginning of the 20th century!

[@maryannkom299]

What state if you don’t mind me asking?

[@maryannkom299]

I recently read a story about a grandmother, when she was a girl, she was awakened in the middle of the night by her father. He had tried to help his wife abort a baby and was bleeding out, he got the children to say goodbye to their mother. After that, the kids were divided up and the daughter was treated like a servant for the rest of her life. And when I read that story, there were numerous laughing emojis. I don’t know who could find that story funny. But no one with a heart could.

[@downhomesunset]

@@maryannkom299 people who would force their beliefs on other people, for one group. Another are just mean spirited who hide behind a keyboard. Too many would make fun of a mother in need of medical attention and the children that lost her. MaryAnn-you have a beautiful name and have shared someone’s terrible story. I wish you only the best from now on……..for you and the anonymous orphan.

[@downhomesunset]

It’s terrible what they are doing and horrific that they think it’s the right thing to do! Another thing the states are going after are peoples’ right to pain control and management. Chronic Pain Patients have killed themselves by the thousands; more are accessing (some even given the choice) of living in pain or taking Medical Aid in Dying. I am thinking of it myself. Doctors in some states that have been charged with “dealing” drugs have been sentenced to prison, and now they are cutting off another choice and threatening livelihoods and lives.

[@KatzeARL]

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

[@kathleenstoin671]

I don't understand why she even told her relatives about having her tubes tied, knowing their feelings about it! Some things should be private, and none of anybody else's business. I had my tubes tied, and my husband, myself, and my gynecologist were the only ones who knew. My kids are adults now, and I still haven't told them. It's just a private matter.

[@ginic7932]

CTM had an episode about those early high-dose birth control pills. My mom took them and nearly died when I was a toddler, from blood clots in her lungs.

[@Shnagglepop]

​@@kathleenstoin671and yet you just posted it on the internet whereby your children could very easily read it

[@kathleenstoin671]

@Shnagglepop My "children" are 54, 49, and 43 years old. I don't care if they know now. I didn't tell them at the time I had it done. They probably don't know only because it just never came up in conversations, probably because they aren't interested in whether I had my tubes tied and don't ask such personal questions. But people who tell their relatives or friends about something they've done that would cause offense is just foolish, in my opinion.

[@Shnagglepop]

@@kathleenstoin671 my kid is 8 and knew I had my tubes tied and that I've now had a hysterectomy, because he asked if he would ever get a brother or sister and I was open and honest with him. But he's a very intelligent child who knows a lot about the subjects from school anyway. It was just ironic that you said "my kids re adults now and I still haven't told them, it's a private matter" if it's a private matter don't post it on the internet where you may offend and upset someone. Especially when that someone is making a heartbreaking comment about losing family members over it. Just because you chose to stay quiet doesn't mean she should.

[@heatherb1700]

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.

[@thegracklepeck]

That's so, so tragic. I'm so sorry your family suffered through that.

[@GardeninGrace]

Similar story to what happened to my great-great grandmother, I found out through records that my great grandmothers mother and her little baby brother didn’t die in a car accident, she died from hemorrhaging after birth, the baby died a few days later, and her father sent her to live with relatives even though she had thought he died, he lived a few towns over from where she later settled. I felt like I learned something I shouldn’t know. It made sense why some of her own children decided not to have kids or get married as well.

[@josephinepuck8370]

I am jumping on the this is how my grandma died, for me great-great. The family story was that she died trying to abort her 8th child and died of an infection. My great-grandma who I was lucky enough to meet, lived with her grandparents because my great-great-grandfather died of liver disease due to alcoholism a couple years later. I was able to find census records that back up the timeline.

[@LaurieSwenson]

That's so sad. Big families don't necessarily mean healthy families. I've been doing some genealogy for my family, and the list of children and how close they are feels horrifying. And some of the mothers died having their last child. I can't imagine having 10 children and no reasonable alternative.

[@WrenKati]

my great-grandmother died because she had an illegal abortion after WW2. Seems like she got raped by russian soldiers. My grandma was 8 years old, had one younger and one older sister. We got told she died from something else but when my grandma got dementia she started talking about what happened to her mother.

[@livylu6287]

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.

[@JayDuron-in1hj]

I dont understand, your mom abandoned her principals in order to be able to do a job that conflicts with thos very principals she lived by. How is that a good thing? Peace ✌🏻

[@clairoswife]

this is amazing and its really important to me, wanting to be a midwife that midwives are pro-choice.

[@mochitheangelderg9895]

I also grew up Mormon in Utah. When Roe V Wade overturned my mom was happy and I actually broke down. She asked me why I was upset because babies were being saved and I said "No they're not. But now instead of just a "baby" in your terms, the carriers of the fetuses will now also die because they can't get safe abortion. It's either the fetus or both of them. You can't just pick the fetus" and that seemed to give her a reality check because she went very quiet and said "Oh... I never thought of it that way." For the record I've always made it clear that I'm aromantic and asexual so on no terms would ever do that consentually with anyone, so I'm sure she was thinking of me at that moment because I've also made it clear that I never want children and if someone did that do me then I would do whatever it took to get rid of that.

[@mochitheangelderg9895]

@@JayDuron-in1hj Hey! I also grew up Mormon (I am ex mo myself)! Just because you know yourself you'd never have one doesn't mean you can push your religious beliefs onto others. She can still believe it's a sin all she wants but she should know as a mormon that it is taught that you are not to judge others (as that is God's job) for their sins, and what sins you have committed is between you and god. She didn't have to abandon any of her principles, mormonism was never about forcing others to live the same way.

[@mochitheangelderg9895]

@@JayDuron-in1hj I was just telling you that she can be Mormon and pro choice without discarding her own belief system :)

[@HerbieRey]

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.

[@sonorasgirl]

Just from a stranger, I did read it, and it’s profound. Thank you

[@grandmaweeb3214]

I'm sure your Nan understands and forgives you. As a grandmother myself, I am also certain she is proud that you have the voice to say what you have. ❤

[@alejandramoreno6625]

The grandmother of a friend of mine had 20 pregnancies and 16 kids. She told my friend when meeting her first boyfriend: "whatever you do, do not have kids, you have a choice, I didn´t"

[@amrempe]

Oh my. Your Nan would be so proud of you. ❤

[@JessicaJones-z2x]

completely disagree, we have lost our love for the value of life. simply put, we dispose children as we please.

[@EmpressMermaid]

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"

[@asilvap]

Whenever someone says people who don't want children should "abstinate" from sex, I always think that they don't fuck or if they do, it must be really unsatisfactory.

[@vvmn9442]

Sex is a very natural desire for any person that has sexuality. I really don’t understand why people tell a married woman to keep her legs crossed. She’s a married woman not a nun or ace

[@Freiya2011]

In this episode the husband was sweet and caring. I know of cases where a se.ually deprived husband would get nasty at least or even violent. No, abstinence is no option! Even if the wish not to have segs was accepted and respected by a husband - which very often is not the case!

[@amberblair8982]

Hi MDJ! YOU HELPED ME DELIVER A BABY! I'm not a nurse or Midwife, I was visiting when my friend went into labour. I applied every single piece of information you have taught us in your videos. THANK YOU. I knew to get clean towels, I knew not to rush to cut the umbilical cord, I knew to keep Mum calm. There was so much information running through my head and it was mostly what you have taught us. THANK YOU SO MUCH. Please know how much it means to us that my friend, my "Niece" are ok because I was equipped with what I like to call a "fake midwife degree"! 😂😂😂 Ka pai!

[@Popcow2019]

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.

[@GunmetalRaven]

It still happens... :/

[@Popcow2019]

@@GunmetalRaven I live in the UK, and abortion is free and legal. So I would hope the numbers of women self harming to end a pregnancy has significantly reduced. Unfortunately that's not true for women in other parts of world.

[@GunmetalRaven]

@@Popcow2019 Sadly I live in the Southern US, and I work in medicine. Some of my closest friends are ultrasound techs and neonatal nurses. I'm in radiography... Few things break my heart more than having to x-ray children who have been abused or elderly who have been neglected. When you're in medicine, you don't get the luxury of hiding your head in the sand.

[@Popcow2019]

@@GunmetalRaven sending you much love, I hope that the women in your part of the world, reclaim their rights one day. As difficult it is for you to see people and children that have been neglected or abused, you are an intricate part of their healing and you are doing an incredibly important job.

[@tinydancer7426]

I have heard that women also used Castor Oil and/or Ipecac in large and repeated doses as an agent to try to induce a miscarriage. I have no idea as to whether either was effective

[@didograce3531]

“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.

[@ladeedae1]

CTM is the only shows that makes me sob. 😫

[@erika-paigehutch3930]

bro this show makes me cry all the time 😅

[@emericcson123]

@@ladeedae1 I have cried for only like 3 shows/movies in my life but there are specific episodes of Call the Midwife that I can't watch again (I do multiple re-watches a year lolol). The Chinese grandmother running to Nonnatus with her grandchild always leaves me in HEAVING SOBS.

[@SarahsSnakeShop]

same, that's where I had to pause the video for a few minutes and come back for the rest... I hurt for women who have gone through this.

[@didograce3531]

@@SarahsSnakeShop Absolutely. The worst part is that for so many people that scenario, it's real life.

[@reannastar1985]

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!

[@Sailorgirl1207]

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.

[@princess7jasmine]

The youngest pregnant girl in recorded history was 5 years old. Let that sink in.

[@Sailorgirl1207]

@@princess7jasmine I know. It's terrifying. And people even sexually abuse infants. It makes me so mad.

[@baristaz8834]

I'm so sorry you went through that. And it's sad to think that often times, abuse, trauma, or stress, sometimes triggers periods earlier than expected.

[@tamishinaberger2485]

I feel the same way as your mom. Kids don't need to have baby's. It's so sad that there are state that will now force them to. I will never understand how anyone thinks its okay to make a child who has been being molested by a family member, now have to the baby.

[@KatzeARL]

There was a terrible case like that in Portugal many years ago: a 10 year old little girl got pregnant... by her father. Abortion would have been legal with a parent's consent in such situations back then, but the mother of the child knew about the abuse and did nothing. So she was deemed unfit to make any decisions for the child. The court had several emergency meetings and decided that the custody over the decision over the fate of the fetus was granted to the hospital that had the child in its care. The hospital asked publically the media to respect the privacy of the child and any decision around that process, and amazingly, the media did exactly that. It was the last we heard of that child and I firmly believe that the doctors had the child have an abortion. And I hope that little girl is living as happily as she can being a grown woman, now.

[@kdyooper28]

The planet needs Dr. Mama Jones so much. We are so blessed with her caring and sharing TRUTHS!!!!

[@laartje24]

A positive comment. I wanted to thank you. I have autism and PTSD from physical and sexual abuse. At one point I was even too scared to go to the GP. But your channel has helped me to get faith back into doctors (even though I have been wronged in the past) and learned me how to advocate for myself in a respectful manner. Yesterday I got a call that I have to go to a gynaecologist for a medical issue, and I did not freak out and am actually confident enough now that I think I will make it to the appointment, which is a huge win for me. I can get the care I need and deserve, and I owe that partially to you and your channel, so a huge thank you. Keep being awesome and keep educating people.

[@GameBearCartridge]

that's awesome!! mdj has helped a lot with my anxiety about this kind of care too

[@myneoangel4299]

I’m so happy you are now able to get the care you need. 💜💜

[@AwkwardSquirrel13]

Sending so much love, I was in very similar situation for a really long time. I got there too. Figuring out how to self advocate safely and strongly is so wonderful!

[@kellyezebra]

This is wonderful-even being raised by feminist parents and being reasonably neurotypical I needed help learning self-advocacy to the point I felt confident that I could be safe medically in almost any situation. It’s great that anyone can get there (arguably with more difficulty but can do it) without the advantages I had. It’s so important for us to talk about our experiences and share ways of self-advocacy to empower each other!

[@GameBearCartridge]

@@kellyezebra absolutely!! thank you for sharing your experience! ❤

[@Lakritzwolf]

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.

[@batemon85]

"... That don't like me going into politics..." A woman's body shouldn't be political!!! Everyone should really think before they judge another person and their choices. Those choices should be between a woman, her doctor, her partner, and her higher power she chooses to believe in. This breaks my heart. My great-grandmother had these ugly, dark scars on her legs. I asked her once why she had them, and she told me it was from experimental birth control she tried in the 40's (1940s). She was so desperate to prevent pregnancy because her husband was so abusive that she took supplements that forever scarred her body. We've come a long way since then, but until a woman can make her own choices with her body, we have so much farther to go. I grew up staunchly pro-life, and now I'm pro the mother's life.

[@Ma11Nas1y]

You don't understand politics. EVERYTHING is political and always will be. Instead of trying to make things less political, take that energy to do something about injustices in the world.

[@APoliticalConfusionAndMess]

Women are supposed to give birth, whether or not they want to.

[@janelllilley9240]

@@APoliticalConfusionAndMess I hope you're being sarcastic

[@RedRoseSeptember22]

Same :) I educated myself and now understand why it's important.

[@RedRoseSeptember22]

@@APoliticalConfusionAndMess Gross.

[@suzzanahbessette6989]

When my grandparents were young, my grandfather would not approve her being on birth control or sterilization, even though she bled nonstop through her last (9th) pregnancy. The only reason she was able to stop having kids is because after the last birth the doctor found uterine cancer and she had to have a complete hysterectomy. My grandfather wouldn't speak to her afterward.

[@jessarie98]

What the actual F. It's like these men think not forcing their wives to have a million kids is somehow going to make them look like less of a man. It's such bullshit. I'm glad times are changing but it sucks that even now people still have those mindsets

[@mffmoniz2948]

Ignorance, stubborness and stupidity. A great guy.

[@daddyyahweh9328]

Jesus wasn't he content with fucking 9???

[@MrMuseta]

It seems she was of no use to him if she wasnt able to give birth anymore

[@LeBatteur]

Don’t use the term “grandfather”. He wasn’t a father, he was a sperm donor with a breeding fetish.

[@hannahbarrett1221]

I am chronically ill and despite being diagnosed as infertile by 3 different drs, I somehow accidentally got pregnant. I was specifically told that my body could barely support me and there was no way it would support a second being too, so it was safer to not have the baby. I agreed and weirdly didn’t even feel that sad about it because to me 1: it was never a possibility to consider, 2: it wasn’t a baby it was a threat to my well-being. Just another medical concern to get through. But then when I actually was supposed to go for the termination, Covid hit. And the government where I live ruled that absolutely ZERO medical procedures could happen that were not 100% necessary. And abortion didn’t make it onto the qualifying list… even though I feel like I should have been considered an exception, they referred to it all as unnecessary with no exceptions possible. Starting from only 7 weeks my body tried rejecting it. I hemorrhaged 3 different times in the first few weeks and each time as I lay in the emergency room I was told to “not hold out any hope on my baby making it this time!” but that heartbeat kept on ticking. I developed HG and was hospitalized another 2 times for severe dehydration and weight loss. (I gained less than 20 pounds the entire pregnancy) I went into early labor at 27 weeks and developed a kidney infection from all the medicine they were pumping into me trying to slow contractions. Somehow with lots of meds and extremely strict bed rest, we made it to 38 weeks before I had an emergency c section and my baby was rushed off to be worked on. She was born with a collapsed lung, severely underweight. She needed oxygen and a feeding tube. She was allergic to my breast milk and could only handle one very specific and very expensive hard to find formula. She has intellectual disabilities and struggles with simple things like keeping her balance. I developed severe depression, anxiety, PTSD, and became suicidal due to it all. We are now a few years in and doing a bit better (we have a strong bond now and we are making up for the lost time of not being close at first) but I stand firm in my belief that while I love my child, neither of us deserved all that trauma and difficulty. Growing a family should be beautiful. Not a trip through hell. THAT is why I’m pro choice and always will be.

[@jenniferburns2530]

I am also chronically ill and had a pregnancy from hell that could have killed me and/or the baby. We both made it and I had a tubal ligation as soon as I could (5 months post-partum) but it took over a year to "recover" from the pregnancy and birth. Honestly my health has never improved and my daughter is now 35. She struggles with a number of medical issues, and has chosen not to have children. I fully support her decision. No one should ever have to continue a pregnancy against their will for any reason.

[@hannahbarrett1221]

@@jenniferburns2530 I’m glad you both made it ok, but I’m so sorry to hear about the long term health effects of it 😭 I hope you both have very bright days coming your way

[@jenniferburns2530]

@@hannahbarrett1221 Thank you. I wish you and your family the best as well.

[@materialgrl2000]

I am so angry for you that you were not given the abortion you wanted and needed

[@MartiErtel]

My heart breaks for you. I hope you are getting all the support available. I had no idea this happened during Covid, at I think it is a terrible judgement by the healthcare system. I will pray for you and your daughter. As an occupational therapist, with support, your daughter may improve greatly. I have seen children that improved with no intervention, or very little, as they developed. I have seen things that have no real medical explanation whatsoever on how a child with challenges overcame them. Never give up hope, my Mom who now has dementia always told me that. She was a nurse and then became a teacher. I wanted to share her message with you as it helped me greatly many times.❤

[@emericcson123]

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.

[@emd5095]

You always have a choice, hence the term "pro choice"

[@LilBluSky0417]

​@@emd5095 not true. Back in the 1950s, you really didn't have a choice. If you didn't get married young and have children, you'd be ostracized by society. You couldn't be gay. You couldn't turn your husband down for sex because marital rape was legal. Birth control pills didn't exist yet. Condoms weren't nearly as effective as they are today. Even the pull-out method wasn't allowed because it went against the religious upbringing of people. And of course, abortion was illegal and therefore unsafe. Abortion is illegal in many States of the US, and in a few places in the world. Thankfully, Canada and the UK and most of the rest of the modern world have not banned or outlawed it in any way, and birth control of practically all forms is available and free and easily accessible. Maybe today, most people have a choice. But in the 1950s, they did not.

[@marissarosaful]

My great-grandmother and grandmother would speak of this happening in their younger years, they were amazingly great full of the time when birth control and legal abortion came around. My grandmother still asks when she hears that someone is pregnant if they need money for a trip to the clinic or for future birth control. I am forever thankful my doctors knew enough was enough for me and did a tubal ligation 20 years ago.

[@thedjinn2873]

I love your grandma. ❤️

[@juliaguimaraes1587]

Your grama is clearly an amazing lady. Hats off to her.

[@AnneliseBlackbriar]

This. It's so sad how quickly people forget what happened prior to Roe. My grandmother was super conservative, but also unwaveringly pro-choice. I wish I had asked her more about it when she was alive, but I suspect she knew people personally who had unsafe terminations.

[@rachieee1472]

Your Grandma is such an incredibly kind and amazing person. Such a true gem❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@mellie4174]

My grandma was the same. My family was pro life and i never understood. Then i grew up. I saw this show and i did.

[@treefrog1018]

17:58 I remember the moment Roe v Wade was overturned, a woman was hemorrhaging from a complicated miscarriage and opted for an abortion to get it over with. The baby was dying anyway. The doctor spent hours with lawyers to ensure what they could and could not do. I don't remember what happened but damn. Just get the baby and the mother out of misery.

[@midorishiwa]

She had an ectopic pregnancy that ruptured her fallopian tube, it wasn’t a decision she made as at that point she would have been unconscious due to the blood loss. The doctors were finally given the green light to operate to save her life, she had several litres of blood in her abdomen by the time they did. She was able to survive but barely.

[@candidwings5609]

This is actually happening a lot. When the threshold for abortion is no fetal heartbeat or threat to the life of the mother, women have to develop LIFE THREATENING complications before receiving the necessary care, even if the original complication was such that the fetus could not survive anyway. Real example: waters break at 17 weeks. Baby cannot survive no matter what medically is done. If the baby continues to have a heartbeat, the mother must develop a uterine infection that borders on sepsis before action can be taken. A process that takes days and can result in damage to the uterus or death. A woman's death due to this became public a few years ago in another country (somewhere in Europe I think?).

[@bunnyslippers191]

@@candidwings5609 It happened to a tourist in Ireland and was widely publicised, so much so that the Irish people voted abortion into their Constitution. It has happened in many countries and is happening in the United States again.

[@RedRoseSeptember22]

@@candidwings5609 Ireland

[@treefrog1018]

@@midorishiwa That sucks. I remember hearing that story too. There are so many stories happening threatening the lives of pregnant people and it is horrible

[@angmeg4343]

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.

[@thegracklepeck]

Some people refuse to see the outcome of what they support. I'm sorry you lost a sister over this but I can't blame you. There's some things that ruin relationships and not caring or refusing to see what absolutely will happen to desperate people all in the name of "save the babies" is a pretty big one.

[@kimberlyfoust2815]

@@53mandevilla What about r@pe or incest? You are wrong.

[@michelacambareri6119]

@@53mandevilla so I should take responsibility for birth control that fails? Why?

[@53mandevilla]

People, we have a lot bigger problems to take care of than responsibility for pregnancy…just grow up already! You talk like this is literally the biggest problem of Earth…trust me, it ISNT!

[@michelacambareri6119]

@@53mandevilla you don't need to resort to whataboutism. You can can discuss issues with contraception and abortion as well as care for other issues in the world. Nobody said that this is the most pressing, just that it IS pressing.

[@TheQueerTailor]

Also important to note before she mentions attempting an unsafe abortion with a pickle fork she mentioned the possibility of using “turps” which meant she planned on drinking turpentine, which is absolutely deadly. Certainly as deadly as using a sharp object which the real Nurse Lee saw throughout her career. If you read Jennifer Worth’s memoirs she discusses attending the aftermath of this particular case where the mother spent months bleeding on and off. Eventually even baby was born early it died of suffocation, drowning in blood from the birth. It was unclear if this was accidental or a case of infanticide, the ultimate result of many unwanted pregnancies in the 19th and early twentieth centuries before safe harbor laws allowed for parents to give up custody of an infant without question. She described another case where she acted as a hospice nurse for a woman with several children who attempted to self abort with a sharp object. She ended up with sepsis and despite antibiotics she died in her own home with her abdomen full of pus. Jennifer Worth’s memoirs have many such stories, they are a harrowing but incredibly important read.

[@swsarah]

I'm always quick to point out the abortion episodes on Call the Midwife. What I appreciate is how they navigate the faith aspect around their profession. I have boldly talked about abortion/LGBT topics in the Christian health center I work in. At the end of the day WWJD? He'd show compassion and care no matter the situation. Keep up the work! ♥️

[@batemon85]

Exactly!! There is an excellent video called GOP Jesus that I think more people need to watch. As a religious person myself, I'm getting really tired of people weaponizing religion to push their own agendas (though I recognize that has been done for as long as there have been humans on this Earth).

[@lifewuzonceezr]

The un Christian behaviour of so many so called Christians has me rejecting Faith and Religion! It hurts too much too see people filled with hate using His words!

[@JodiLeaSnakeQueen]

@@lifewuzonceezr exactly! I grew up catholic and now that I'm adult I refuse to go to church. I believe in God and would much rather praise him from the comfort of my home than in his "house" full of hypocrites especially down here in the Bible belt. I HATE it here.

[@BeeWhistler]

@@lifewuzonceezrThat just makes me cling more to my faith. I won’t hand it over to be represented solely by people who use it for their own gain or to be cruel and merciless. I’m a poor representative but I hope I represent Christ well enough that I, along with others doing the same, will provide an example of how things should be. So that when someone meets a terrible person claiming to be Christian, they’ll have met enough people doing things the right way the best they can, that they won’t be fooled by pretenders, or by haters. It’s an amazing feeling just to hear someone speak up and say something like, “Look, I’ve met Christians who would never act like that. I’m not religious myself but I know what a follower of Christ should be,” when people are tearing us down or claiming to be Christians while doing hateful things. People who understand what shouldn’t be called Christian, and what should.

[@JLO72]

Call the midwife, actually broaches the subject again when they enter the 60's and when the contraceptive pill was introduced, and although Sister Julian understands the necessity of it, she is still largely against it on religious grounds. At the start of season 10 abortion is mentioned again, but this time, with posh clinics doing D&C operations whilst actually still illegally aborting unwanted pregnancies to those that could afford it.

[@beckyhankins7134]

There are quite a few call the midwife episodes surrounding abortion. First they made me realize that access to safe termination is incredibly important. They also just really helped me realize it is not black and white, as I’d always been taught; it is extremely grey, and messy, and hard. I wish that people would truly take the time to watch these episodes with an open mind and heart and see how these stories are so real, then and now, and how important they are. This past season had some really great stuff from the character trixie regarding it.

[@wingsofescape]

Would you have the specific episode numbers? I'm writing a self-induced abortion scene for a story (pro-choice and aiming to show why abortion needs to be safely available might I add) and would like to see how it's showcased in media :)

[@Kaeinlya]

Wasn't that Valerie?

[@beckyhankins7134]

@@wingsofescape hoo boy, there’s a lot, and seasons 8 and 10 both have arcs related to abortion. Season 8, episodes 1, 4, 7, & 8 all deal with the dangers and consequences of back alley abortions. Season 10 episode 6 specifically has the trixie speech i mentioned, where she argues in a radio interview in favor of abortion with two men, and is related to the actual historical 1967 Abortion Act in the Great Britain that legalized it. In addition to those, season 5 episode 3 depicts a self-inflicted abortion, and this one Dr. Jones is reacting to is season 2, episode 5. There may be more, but those are what I can think of and search off the top of my head. I know season 10 has some other abortion related information (doctors going around the law to do them so at least they’re done safely, I think it’s episode 1 or 2), but I’ve only watched that season once so it’s less clear to me.

[@haveyoutakenyourmeds]

@@beckyhankins7134 I really reccomend the episodes in season 10. It demonstrates perfectly how anti abortion laws affect the lower classes/poorest in society most. It depicts well off women able to access safe "off the book" abortions from doctors even though it is illegal.

[@matwatson7947]

@@haveyoutakenyourmeds and it's the well off people that make the political decisions....

[@researchotaku]

My family is from Ireland. In the 1950/1960s, women would ask my working-class grandmother what "her secret" was since she only had two children (nicknamed "The Precious Pair"). Her secret was fibroids that made her third and final pregnancy life-threatening. It was either the baby or her, but not both. She was hospitalized with her legs in the air until they received a dispensation from the Pope to let her have an abortion. My grandfather said that he'd rather have two children with a mother than three children without a mother. My grandmother lived into her seventies with only her "Precious Pair" and went on to have 6 surviving grandchildren (plus one preemie who proceeded her) and even had a great-grandchild by the time of her passing. My grandparents made the right decision and I say that if it was good enough for the Pope, it's good enough for me. Fast forward to 1986, still in Ireland: I was a "happy accident" (I'm the 4th surviving child of my parents) but even so my father wanted to get a vasectomy after I was born to avoid any more children. He could only get one if a doctor said that another pregnancy would be life-threatening to my mother. The doctor, who had many children of his own, claimed (with a proverbial wink) that my mother's vericose veins would put her at risk if she got pregnant so my father could get the procedure done. To be fair, my mother does have vericose veins but my parents openly admitted that the doctor did what he could to help them out. I'm trying to get pregnant now (which is stressful enough) but I constantly worry what will happen if I end up in my grandmother's position.

[@batemon85]

I had 10 pounds worth of fibroids removed from my uterus after my first born was born. We did it because we didn't want her to be an only child, but in seeking multiple opinions, I got a lot of scary information. Yes, it was risky to have another child, but it meant a lot to us. I'm grateful to live in an age and day where both my baby and I survived the first pregnancy without any issues (other than my extreme HG and losing 45 pounds while pregnant!). Found really great doctors willing to help us and support us with our family planning.

[@ebonyhippo]

My grandmother was also Catholic. She had seven children. She was newly pregnant with #8 when doctors found cancer. They couldn't treat for cancer while she was pregnant, so, like your grandma, it was either the pregnancy or her but not both. She and my grandfather went to the local priest for guidance. He said abortion was a sin, and she could not get one. So, she kept the pregnancy and died from the cancer. The pro-life agenda is not pro-life.

[@holly.earendil5187]

The ending of this episode KILLED ME when it talked about contraception and how it was too late for Nora but her daughters and granddaughters would benefit 😭💖💖

[@rachelsamuels8399]

It's NOT politics. It's well-woman care, and at 44 years old I'm f**king sick to death of men who have the wrong kind of plumbing, have never had a period tell me what I can and can't do with my body. Doctors like you should be able to advise me on what's best for me without those assh*ts getting in the way.

[@eliscanfield3913]

I'm sick of people *with* the same plumbing as us telling us what to do with bodies that aren't theirs

[@jimbelter2]

Exactly. And let's not allow religion to be the sole basis for this decision. These lawmakers should include the medical community when drafting policies of life or death. If you don't, then the laws are ill-written and detrimental to either life. End result is you will lose both lives before the court decides, not a choice that should be made by the courts. This is a medical emergency and should be decided by medical professionals

[@Bluemooniris38]

Beautifully stated!! Can’t agree more!!

[@carag2567]

SCREAM IT LOUDER, SIS!!!!

[@c.c.l.9139]

Close to half of women are pro life

[@kerrythurlow8037]

My father was number 4 of fourteen children my grandmother raised. He and three siblings were abandoned by their mother, who was physically, financially and emotionally unable to care for the eight children she'd borne. My grandmother, at the age of fifteen, gave birth to her first of ten children. She spent the next fifteen years of her life either pregnant or nursing a baby. I wouldn't trade any of my aunts or uncles for the world. My grandmother didn't have a choice...she didn't have a choice in 1948 when her first child was born and she didn't have a choice in 1963 when her last child was born. It is reprehensible that almost sixty years later, we as American women still do not have freedom of choices or have the autonomy over our own bodies.

[@anastazi7816]

My grandma has told me many times of how lucky her family was because her parents were able to keep all the babies they had (12) thanks to her families successful farm. She said it was an open secret that less well off families would take newborns out to the woods and leave them to die. It was very rare at that time and place to have a doctor attend the birth. My grandma was born in 1928 in a sod house. Her 12 year old big sister delivered her and cut the cord.

[@mwilliamson8072]

As someone whose memory extend to the pre Roe v. Wade era, I would greatly like to thank you for addressing this topic. I knew of several young women and teen-age girls who had unsafe abortions with terrible physical and emotional consequences. Thanks again. ♥️

[@Liriand]

I've never had either a miscarriage or abortion, but I'm having a difficult time with this episode. Can't even imagine how awful it would be for others who've gone through it.

[@ThatRainbowMama]

I've had a missed miscarriage that led to me having to take the medication given for an abortion, I've also had 3 natural miscarriages at home, definitely a tough watch.

[@AirQuotes]

Same it's heartbreaking

[@samanthastuessel7986]

I was feeling the anxiety, too. And it reminded me of someone saying, "It's just a TV show." But we have to remember, these are things people actually went through. That's the awful part.

[@MsJaytee1975]

The early series are based on Jennifer Worth’s memoirs, there’s every chance it’s based on a real story.

[@samanthastuessel7986]

@MsJaytee1975 she was the midwife, I'm guessing?

[@Bringon-dw8dx]

@@samanthastuessel7986yes, she was a midwife

[@joiedevivre2005]

My mother's best friend got pregnant as a teenager in the early 1950's. She died during a "back alley" abortion. It affected my mother greatly. Although she was very conservative politically she was staunchly pro-choice. I often think of that poor young girl dying alone and scared.

[@carag2567]

What a tragedy. And how amazing of your mother to defy convention and stand by her fellow women!

[@kristinreynolds577]

Stories like this is exactly why our medical decisions should not be left up to old men in suits that have no idea about women a health!! These conversations should only be bn a Dr and their patient!!!

[@elizabethbennett5203]

I have never known a fan of Call the Midwife that wasn't pro-choice. This show illustrates the consequences of this issues repeatedly, clearly, and with incredible compassion. Appreciate the medical information alongside this stellar show.

[@armedwithjello]

My mom loved the show, but still felt that anyone who gets pregnant should be grateful for it, since she had a miscarriage and a stillbirth before she had me and my sister. She always held this belief that there is some shortage of babies, which there absolutely is not. She even asked my dad about adopting once, and he said he "didn't want to raise someone else's kid."

[@nancyhasten-sn8lm]

@@armedwithjello It astonishes me that, with a world population of eight billion, that people still think they NEED to breed. I want to ask, when do you think there will be enough?

[@cynthiarohr9405]

I'm against abortion, and I used to watch the show all the time.

[@nkiehnle]

Hello! we exist :) Don't assume that being pro-life automatically makes us cold, indifferent or ignorant to this kind of situation. We can all care for these women, with different perspectives on what the "best solution" to unplanned pregnancies should be. This is not the place for a more in-depth discussion about what we should be advocating for, but being in favor of sexual education, access to medical healthcare, eliminating the stigma surrounding sexuality and being empathic and compassionate should be the norm, no matter your stand regarding abortion. And I know many pro-life advocates are sadly very rude, condescending and self-righteous, which shouldn't happen.

[@farfromthemaddingcrowd846]

I’m a fan and strongly pro life

[@denjahleinson407]

i work in the field of sex education and sexology in Finland and would just like to thank you for doing the things that you do: speaking up about important topics, making this invaluable info accessible, and opening up discussions about topics that are seldom spoken about (but that people seem to think they have professional knowledge in) loads of love from a supportive friend across the seas

[@Philemaphobia]

Do you blog/vlog ? How does Finland do it?

[@amyfeldman5301]

I remember watching this episode when I was in my early teens with my mum who’s a doctor. The fact that in some parts of the world have gone back to this level of lack of access to termination blows my mind. All you need to do is watch this episode to see its life threatening and potentially fatal to do so. Feeling very glad I live in Australia

[@c.hansen3139]

Honestly I'm so sick of living in the US. So tired of hearing the rhetoric and realizing how freaking wrong it is. It's going to take at least another generation to change things . . . It's such a slow process.

[@amyfeldman5301]

@@sherrylovegood we are most definitely blessed to live in Australia. I couldn’t imagine living somewhere you can’t access certain medical procedures.

[@Anamizuki]

Call the Midwife is a show that does not shy away from these topics, not even an inch. They had a whole arc dedicated to thalidomide, I mean like 10 episodes of the cases slowly rising. That is why it is an important show, because it puts a mirror onto the need to reproductive rights and shows us the very real alternative. I'm glad that you are giving this show so much attention. Dr.Jones, because right now people in the US need it.

[@kk_gotit_goinon]

I'd love for her to do an ep on baby Susan's arc!

[@kristinastone7838]

That ending made me cry tears of joy that she survived. I was already crying seeing her children by her bedside, saying their goodbyes, but I started sobbing when I saw her walking behind them. “Nora’s life was saved by doctors who asked no questions,” that hit deep

[@BeerElf66]

I've always loved Call the Midwife. Not least because it unflinchingly shows life without decent free healthcare. It hit differently in the UK when it started, as we were viewing it from a place of safety, with one of the best healthcare systems on the planet. A lot has changed since then. Oddly, despite knowing better, a lot of our (more right wing) politicians seem hell-bent on dragging us back to Call the Midwife territory. Partly because of deep cuts in healthcare spending, and demanding that we find efficiencies, even though our national spend per capita is tiny, and also now, those politicians are starting to speak the "Culture War" vocabulary and are turning their attentions to women's healthcare.

[@batemon85]

That is so scary!! Ignorance is spreading like a pandemic.

[@maggiebookworm]

It is so interesting how my feelings about it have changed since I started watching it. 6 or 7 years ago I was like "wow, imagine having so little access to good healthcare" and now, as a Canadian watching nurses leave the profession in droves and people being turned away at emergency rooms I think "wow, the characters in CMT are actually getting really good care"

[@mellie4174]

Such bullshit. It kills me that they'll defund healthcare but buy war ships!

[@Lyrictheac]

Thank you for this video. I'm a mental health therapist here in America, and have counseled people who have chosen abortion and have been shamed for this decision. It is a misconception that abortion is "the easy way out." There is nothing easy in pregnancy or the decision to end one. I hope and pray I never have to make that choice, and that America will get it's sh*t together so other people who can get pregnant won't have to make life threatening choices either. It's not just a story in a tv show; it's a real-life, current issue (in 2022, going on 2023), and it's ridiculous that we're still calling it "politics."

[@hahap5411]

Not to mention religious too!! Religion and politics shouldn’t come in the way or have their nose in women’s sexual/ reproductive health.

[@campfireaddict6417]

Only a friend or two you trust with your life should know. People are quick to judge first, find out whenever.

[@maryannkom299]

And a year later we’re looking at a likely scenario where abortion is illegal nationwide under the Trump administration

[@treefrog1018]

I have never been pregnant. I will be forever grateful that I live in a blue state and my doctor was able to work with insurance to cover my hysterectomy at a young age. I have endometriosis and waited a very long year of trying birth control, per suggestion of my previous OBGYN. [Edit: OBGYN was worried about the long term effects of a hysterectomy. I just took the pills to prove that I'm not hasty in my decision to yeet my uterus.] The moment I knew I had Endo, I knew I was gonna have a hysterectomy. That was a compromise I feel like I had to make, taking pills, showing that I am willing to try anything but a hysterectomy. I have no regrets. Upon surgery, my new OBGYN noticed adenomyosis -which many people with adenomyosis opt for hysterectomy at some point because periods are just so bad. I am still in shock that I had adenomyosis too. I had no idea my periods were that abnormal. Holy crap. -though my tolerance for pain does make me feel like a badass, ngl. May all parts of the world allow us to have access to the healthcare we need. 🙏

[@meirin5316]

here in germany my obgyns wouldnt let me do that. health care wouldnt cover it either.

[@Nexibis]

I am so glad you were able to get the care you needed and deserved.

[@ma-ma-mamary3946]

It's nuts. My BFF had adenomyosis. For years she thought she had fibroids since they ran in her family. When her diagnosis was confirmed and a hysterectomy came into the discussion it then became a gamble of whether or not it would be covered by insurance. Wait. Being bedridden for almost a week every single month all the while being on a rolling Ibuprofen regimen during that time frame is a better alternative? Because the hysterectomy is "voluntary?" Anyway, in the end, it was deemed medically necessary, therefore covered by insurance but the mental struggle alone was mind-blowing. She did develop a different complication with her intestines from the surgery but either way, she said that she has zero regrets about getting the hysterectomy done. Women's healthcare still has a long way to go. And this isn't even touching on the resistance she & her husband got from healthcare providers while they were in their mid-20s & were seeking to get a tubal ligation. That's a discussion for another problem we have in advocating for women's healthcare & I'm glad it was brought up in this video & show too.

[@katd9798]

I have Endometriosis and now have a beautiful daughter that I thought that I never would have, why would you choose to have a hysterectomy when there's still a chance of a baby? Unless of course, you never wanted kids, which I get but that's sad.

[@sskipstress]

@@katd9798 thank you for inspiring me to look for a research lab that needs uteruses in not the best condition. I'd like to be able to boast that I did something more heroic than gestating fetuses with mine. I didn't think of it when my doctor removed my ovaries and fallopian tubes to treat my cancer treatment, and my breasts went to at least two different universities. I never wanted kids, I'm bad enough at writing my own thank you notes, I don't want to take on theirs, but my uterus doesn't have to be useless.

[@delicate1917]

the sheer relief I felt at seeing her alive in the end brought me to tears??? I have always been pro choice, and extremely supported by my mother herself, who always made the point of stories like this, I couldn't agree more with her rn. I have to say I've been binge watching here and these videos are so good! It's entertaining while teaching so much, this channel was a awesome find

[@ladybanshee9169]

Episodes like this are so important, especially since trends in the US tend continue in other 'western' countries. It makes me fearful that Australia may follow suit one day in the future and outlaw the right to abortion completely. Thank you for counting educate and sharing your knowledge

[@jenniferharris1280]

I have 3 kids, my choice. I hated being pregnant - I didn't have hyperemesis, but I felt like I was going to vomit any minute most days of each pregnancy. Between my sisters and myself, we have used most modern forms of birth control, and failed some of the most effective ones (sister had an IUD failure at 42). And I never doubted that I would have the necessary access to any healthcare choice I made. My youngest is 15 and terrified of getting pregnant. I've had to assure her that I'll get her to Canada if that's what it takes to terminate, if the worst happens. (She has zero interest in sex, she's terrified of being raped and becoming pregnant.) My heart is broken for this generation in this country.

[@AuroraLalune]

That’s what they want

[@jessicapalhares8436]

I understand your daughter. Only now, 2023, my country legally guaranteed that I can undergo tubal ligation without having children, without a husband's consent. Yet doctors are an obstacle... I keep distance from man, but I will try to do the procedure soon to prevent pregnancy If I have the misfortune to be raped.

[@awright119021]

It's a terrifying time for most women. I've been told that I'll likely never get pregnant again due to medical problems I have. I have pcos and multiple sclerosis. To treat the multiple sclerosis I get infusions every 6 months. I also can't be on contraceptives due to my health. If I were to get pregnant somehow, my neurologist says I would need to abort because of the medication. I can't risk disability by stopping the infusions and the medication would hurt the baby. I'm so terrified that it's getting to a point that I wouldn't be "allowed" to abort and would be forced to stop my medication in order to not harm the baby. Or continue with a pregnancy while on medication that will do God knows what to the baby. I've never been more scared to get pregnant than I am now.

[@kirstynweinberg]

Come to NYS, we enshrined the right to choose before RvW by 2y if memory is correct. I'm the 1st generation of RvW and never known anything else. I've heard years of horror stories, but never mind thought they'd return. I am from a big family of women and am scared for all of my nieces. The youngest is 14 and the others are late high school and newly graduated. It scares me because of the fact that they're not really given a choice to chose but a choice that's given to them. Mandated. Choice. I chose to not have kids for personal reasons, but I made that choice, not my government, or really with my partner. I raised a kid with him; I didn't need my own. I can borrow one of I need one. This governmentally induced cruelty and misogyny is abhorrent, ridiculous, and then as disgusting as having women experimented on, ie Henrietta Lacks (true story; look that one up... Bioethics came because of this case: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks book, c 2008). I will fight for the right of choice and options for women on any subject, or topic, until they put me in my crypt. It's too important. I was raised in a very conservative Catholic family and am the outlander of them all. We weren't really taught about sex because it was shamed: you opened your legs; now look! So wrong.😢

[@jenniferharris1280]

@@kirstynweinberg ethics in medicine is still a struggle. The book about Henrietta Lacks was extremely well written - when my professor suggested it, I'd already read it. I studied clinical research and ethics. We're trying!

[@purplexninjamom]

I´m so glad I live in Germany. I grew up learning about birth control from age 9. Both my parents and school also taught us that there are other things like abortive pills and abortions available, should you need them. I fell pregnant when I was 27, had a miscarriage, fell pregnant again, gave birth at 28, fell pregnant again at 30 and gave birth again at 31. Always knowing it was my choice. I never had to be afraid. I am so glad that, if I had ever needed it, safe options would have been available. I wouldn´t have fared well if I had had a kid any younger. Just the same, I wouldn´t fare well with yet another one. I´m so sorry for all the women in the USA and other such places where people don´t have the same access to care that we do here.

[@TisOnlyAScratch]

How do you FALL pregnant? Every time I fall, I know there's a risk of injury including broken bones and death but I never heard of falling and getting pregnant.

[@k2nimod]

(Not so fun-)fact: Abortion of a viable pregnancy is still illegal in Germany. It is, by law, not prosecuted in certain situations most importantly before week 13 (StGB §218 und §218a) and in cases of abuse or medical necessity.

[@aeron6199]

@@TisOnlyAScratch have you ever heared of the expression "falling in love"? You don't always have to take wordings literally.

[@beautyindarkness]

Which is as it should be and it's sad that this is not the way it is in all so called developed countries.

[@beautyindarkness]

@@TisOnlyAScratch I have heard of this term and if you didn't notice the poster is not a primarily English speaker.

[@senxiv4232]

There was another Call the Midwife episode in a later season that also addressed back-alley abortions, which I felt was even more heartbreaking than this one. Rewatching the series recently, I couldn't help but think to the issues going on in America today. The government needs to take a hard look at realities such as these.

[@yucol5661]

They only care about power, like robots, no conscience. The ones who need to take a hard look are all our friends and family and neighbors who hold strong beliefs about abortion and support them.

[@mmtmc2320]

They have taken a look but, simply do not care about women. They'd rather women dead than not be under the control of a man.

[@leighsirmans428]

Unfortunately you could do an entire series from Call the Midwife about unsafe abortions and issues accessing safe Healthcare. I would definitely support this! Then we need to get them sent to anyone who calls themselves "qualified" to make decisions for us! Love you MDJ!

[@amyfeldman5301]

Here here. I think that would be a fabulous KZbin series and super educational too

[@lynndragon2536]

If she did it once a month like she does her other series it would be great I enjoy call the midwife for it’s realistic portrayal of life and it’s actual care about the past

[@leighsirmans428]

Absolutely, and since Healthcare seems to be sliding into the past we can look to it for why it didn't work then!

[@Alexacake19]

I won’t lie, this would be me if I was pregnant and unable to terminate. I would absolutely become desperate enough to try anything

[@jessicapalhares8436]

The only time I was suicidal in my life was when I thought I was pregnant. It was ridiculous, I was 16 and I hadn't even done penetration sex, BUT I had a boyfriend, we did stuff and I read a pregnancy story without it and I didn't had my period for 2 months... I remember spending up late nights planning. Thank God it was all in my head, I 100% would have jumped in front of a truck. Abortion is illegal in my country, unfortunately.

[@Alexacake19]

@@jessicapalhares8436 I’m so sorry you went through that, I know how scary it is. I’m glad you are still here 💖

[@Alexacake19]

@@dw6418 I’m not a mother and I never will be. A clump of cells doesn’t make me a mother. I truly could not care less what you think. I support women having the right to choose.

[@cr-lb5yh]

​@@dw6418You're selfish. You have no right to determine other people's choices. Pro-lifers love to make emotional appeals but are rarely out here advocating for access to affordable health care and child care, parental leave, and education. You know, stuff that actually benefits children and their mothers.

[@darbyoshieles4088]

I would terminate in an instant. I'm 57 with my tubes tied for a reason.

[@justwhistlinpixie]

I got about halfway through this video but I just can't handle continuing to watch. The reproductive burden of women is a heavy one, especially without access to modern contraception and termination. I'm having my first baby at 34, and I thank modern medicine for allowing me more than a decade of living child-free by choice. Now I am ready to choose to have a baby at the time that is right for me and my husband.

[@jordanriri3219]

Congratulations on your baby 😊. I'm so glad you had the access to make choices that were right for you ❤️ For a lot of people now and then having access to contraceptives would have given them up to 20yrs child-free by choice at age 34.

[@carag2567]

I'm so glad you are able to have a baby on your own terms and at a time when you feel it's right for you. THAT is what choice is supposed to be. CONGRATULATIONS on your new motherhood and the future arrival of your baby! Such a happy and exciting time! ❤

[@Elliecatify]

@@fl_snorkeldork How rude to assume anything that OP hasn't shared.

[@beastofburdon]

@@fl_snorkeldork please focus your judgement inward. What you said is incredibly shameful.

[@82Vampi]

@@fl_snorkeldork Or she just was on the pill until now, when she was ready. Dont be so quick to assume and judge.

[@aislinnmckenney3574]

I have been pro-choice for over 55 years thanks to my incredible mother and her honesty with me regaring reproductive choices. My mother had 3 children in 3 years and would have had many more if a concerned ob-gyn hadn't asked her after the third baby what she was trying to prove. My mother asked him if he knew how to stop babies from coming. Before anyone prejudges her, my mother is a brilliant woman but this was 1959 and birth control was something no one really knew about. The doctor told her to come by his office the next morning and he fitted her for a diaphram. He also gave her pamphlets regaring contraception. The next time my mother went to her family for a visit, she sat her 5 sisters down and told them "we never have to to get married again" to which her next youngest sister sighed and said "too late." That sister, my aunt Carol was the last woman in our family who had to get married due to an unwanted pregnancy. My mother had been pregnant when she married my father. My grandmother had been pregnant when she married my grandfather. The same for my great-grandmother, and for her mother as well. Contrascption and then unfettered access to safe abotion allowed the women in my family to become parents if they chose to, not because they were forced to. I fear for future generations of women in the United States who won't have the choices I had. Who may be forced to risk their lives because their contraception of choice failed and they don't have the resources, familial support, or access to safe termination. There are going to be a lot of women who are going to die because of this. And it didn't have to be this way.

[@stephaniedavis6531]

Many years ago I saw a TV movie about Margaret Singer Sanger. She was a nurse who worked in the NYC tenements where having 19 children was "normal". Margaret tried tried to educate women about contraception. The then Mayor of NYC, Comstock I believe his name was, had Margaret jailed many times for promoting " pornography".

[@TheWheelBry]

My Nanny (dads mum, not someone who looked after me) tried to self-abort my Dad (the gin and bath tub way) back in 1955 in Wales because she was told by Drs that she wouldn't survive a second labour but that obviously not enough to provide a medical abortion. She was scared that she would die so she tried to abort my Dad. And to any Pro Lifers who point out I wouldn't exist if it had worked, 1. I wouldn't know, so I don't care (think parallel universe) and 2. I loved my Nanny and would have never wanted her to have felt powerless over her own body. I am a SA survivor and have been in life-threatening predicaments with my health, you need to have control and the final say of what happens to your own body

[@debbie4503]

You need to have control and final say of what happens to your own body. Loosely quoting what you wrote. I'm 61 yrs old and I am so tired of life. How is this different than what you said? Shouldn't I have control over my own body and my life? God help me, I am just tired.

[@roor6846]

This was so hard to watch, I'm Irish and this was our reality for a very long time. I have never been pregnant but my heart breaks for anyone who has and not wanted to be.

[@KreeZafi]

This is why I really love this show, how it covers all these different scenarios (and it makes me endlessly appreciative that I live in a time and place where I have all the choices I need). It's not a "yay baybies!" show that glorifies pregnancy and parenthood, it shows all sides of it. It shows happy families but also a wide range of unhappy ones, negative reactions to pregnancy, and the gruesome reality of delivery.

[@sydneyjt101]

I love that you aren’t afraid to speak up! This video brought me to tears as I’m making a sign that says “choose the color of your coat hanger is not healthcare” A federal judge near my hometown is voting to possibly ban the abortion pill nationwide so we’re protesting this weekend. Never let the world dull your sparkle and keep speaking out on what’s important!! If anyone wants to join Amarillo, TX potter county courthouse at 3 PM Saturday Feb 11th

[@MamaDoctorJones]

just published a full video on this about 3 hours ago!

[@barbtries]

You have my 1000% support for your activism and advocacy for your patients and women everywhere! You are doing good, it's important. I'm 67 years old, American, and devastated that my 15-year-old granddaughter does not have the rights that I did. Our bodies, our choice! women are human. thank you thank you thank you Dr Jones

[@Thegirlwhoknowsthings]

I have 10 children and I can understand one million percent where she is coming from. I've struggled with everything since my first i had very young. I didn't have the information necessary. I love my kids to death but with the oldest at 29 and youngest at 6 ( one granddaughter at 3) its been very real. I'm a doula now etc. I'm 42 now, and believe everyone needs information and access to all this. I love watching your KZbin MDJ. Edit: just had a birthday, lol, I'm 43. Aaarrgh. 😆

[@myreality5959]

Wow 13! I'm so proud of what you would have had too to through you are so strong. What an amazing woman!

[@kristinreynolds577]

You go girlfriend!!! You’re a true rockstar!!! 🥰🥰🥰

[@LGrian]

13? Omg… I hope at least it was another teenage child who you conceived with consensually😨 Amazed and so glad you and your kids are doing great. I have a few friends who had babies or abortions in their early teens and there’s a lot of trauma there…

[@Thegirlwhoknowsthings]

@@LGrian #trauma #metoo

[@Thegirlwhoknowsthings]

@@myreality5959 thank you!

[@kris10x88]

I am beyond grateful that my OBGYN agreed that he would let me get my tubes tied/burnt after only having 1 child at the age of 19. I am 33 now and still do not regret that choice. I think everyone should be able to decide when they do not want any more children and it shouldn't be left up to the doctors, ect. I have heard many people tell me how fortunate I was since there are many doctors out there who will not perform the procedure unless you are a certain age and have 2 or more children. I absolutely love this show! I have watched them over and over again. Thank you for sharing your medical advice on this topic

[@gek421]

“Until my field of medicine is no longer a political pawn, I’ll continue to talk about politics on here.” And from so many of us, thank you. Thank you for fighting this battle. Thank you for giving an educated, expert voice to this debate. Thank you for not shying away from these hard but so relevant topics that need to be discussed. No wants there to be more abortions, we just want that to be an option if need be and for them to be safe - a fellow Texan

[@americaroleplayer]

I feel like an underrated part of this is how SUPPORTIVE the husband is. He knows this is dangerous, but he also knows they can't really support a kid, and he wants to help his wife.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

If he was that supportive, why keep having sex and keep getting her pregnant? He has a hand, use it.

[@user-xy4ff5yp7b]

@@rosesweetcharlotte Yup, incredibly selfish to continue having penetrative sex with your wife when you see it’s literally killing her. I can’t imagine anything more self centred.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

@@user-xy4ff5yp7b The thing is, it always happens.

[@americaroleplayer]

@@rosesweetcharlotte They literally discuss that in the episode AND in the youtube video "You pay for that in other ways"

[@thatjillgirl]

@@rosesweetcharlotte Spouses who love each other and have sex drives usually like to have sex with each other. This is why abstinence is such a poor contraceptive option. People have a tendency to eventually give in.

[@wilmadicfit]

loved this! as a mom of two who works with people of the Amish community; they very much still believe in a lot of this. Its so hard and heart breaking when someone isn't given valuable information regarding their own health. Allowing any and everyone to make their own medical decisions is a birth right in my opinion.

[@lindycasey]

I've seen so many Amish women fall for herbal remedies to end a pregnancy. One had multiple profoundly disabled children and she just didn't want to go through it ever again. She was so sick.... I referred her but never heard what happened.

[@TisOnlyAScratch]

The Amish are strictly religious and have their reasons for their beliefs and practices on these issues. A good healthcare provider of the Amish needs to know how to work within their belief system in order to avoid violating it. Focusing on birth control measures to prevent conception in the first place (especially no sex) will earn more respect than, "Oops, I accidentally got pregnant. Gotta kill the baby growing inside of me instead of giving birth and offering it up for adoption."

[@wilmadicfit]

@@lindycasey I have heard so many stories.

[@wilmadicfit]

@@TisOnlyAScratch Agreed, the provider for sure should be educated in their religious beliefs, if not for anything but to gain their trust also. They are not too trust worthy of non-Amish people until they know you. Just like any other group of people though, they are all different of course. You have some who are more strict in their religion than others, I do not work with them in any medical sense of the way, I just meant I work in their community and live close by that I have heard and see so many stories unfold. Its eye opening.

[@kelly1827]

@@TisOnlyAScratch Your tone, specifically the "Ooops!" is incredibly insensitive to what the vast majority of people go through when they make the choice to end a pregnancy. Contrary to the propaganda from the anti-choice camp, people are not merrily skipping off to their terminations, nor are they "using it as birth control". To imply so is incredibly mean. And for the record, I have never had or considered an abortion for myself. My husband was adopted by a wonderful married couple who loved him and provided for him very well. We recently found out who his biological parents were and they were not married when he was born (contrary to what the adoption agency told his parents). And still I can recognize that until there is better access to contraception and much more robust social safety nets that safe and legal ways to end pregnancies needs to exist. The countries with the lowest abortion rates are the ones who provide both of those things.

[@orbitalchild]

In the talk about being able to access reproductive health care, here's a fun one. I recently went to see an OBGYN to discuss getting my tubes tied. I figured that at 34 years old with two kids, a history of high-risk pregnancies, a husband who was 100% on board, and a diagnosis of yopd, it would be a no-brainer. I was even prepared to have my husband come in to give his okay if necessary, even though the thought of that makes me visibly angry. I explained to the doctor that I just didn't want to take any chances. Because of my current health and the fact that I live in Texas, I just wanted to be as safe as I could and take every possible measure to prevent pregnancy. He told me it was pointless since my husband had a vasectomy. And refused to discuss it further. He offered to put in another IUD even though my previous IUD had fallen out two years in. He also said vasectomy failures were extremely rare. I looked at him dead in the eyes and said " I'm 34 with Parkinson's rare is my specialty"

[@rhondaweddle9826]

I used to work at a refuge for homeless teenage girls that were pregnant. The youngest was 13. Some girls just couldn't afford any form of contraception. The things I experienced were very sad. More needs to be taught about sex and the consequences to the young people. I saw many girls who were definitely not ready to parent. I support pro choice from all aspects - some of those girls never made the choice to get pregnant, they didn't even know what they were doing.

[@annawalcott7487]

I love watching Call to Midwife!!! It makes me laugh, cry, and I learn stuff. I love how the show talk about life, death, love, religion, disabilities, birth complications, miscarriages, abortions. Who knew that this show would teach so much about everything. Happy Holidays everyone.

[@strawycape9693]

Gosh I remember this episode, absolutely harrowing. Many tears shed watching Call the Midwife but it is an amazing show.

[@lifewuzonceezr]

I think I cry Every episode..even repeats..i had a Spina Bifida son ..so I skip that one..unless the write up on the telly is wrong!! I was not prepared to catch it..and the shows babies lesion was so much smaller than my boys. .bet I can't watch this without crying! ;')

[@gatitam2875]

Where can I watch this, it's a series, right?

[@madhu7983]

@@gatitam2875 I'm currently watching on Netflix in the US!

[@gatitam2875]

@@madhu7983 ty

[@No1PlutoSupporter]

I cry every episode!!! It’s such a purely human show oh my god

[@coleengoodell7523]

Thank you for sharing this. Women who have the financial means, good insurance and no health problems associated with birth control pills are often the ones screaming the loudest about pro-life. They are also most often married or in a safe relationship. It's unfortunate that their reality isn't everyone's reality and they either can't or won't take their blinders off to understand what others may be facing.

[@violaplayer26]

This. For a good example of these dynamics going horribly awry, check of the hostage situation that occurred at Alta View hospital. TL;DR version - a husband went after the doctor who performed a tubal on his wife. Killed a nurse, took people hostage - including laboring mothers and newborns.

[@brlxnnx]

Conservatives are chronically near-sighted, they absolutely cannot fathom a reality beyond their own

[@coleengoodell7523]

@@dw6418 It must be nice to have lived the sheltered life that you have. Not all sex is consensual. Many an abusive husband or controlling boyfriend will deliberately get a woman pregnant. Not to mention date rape, incest and attacks by serial rapists. How about we teach our young men to keep their dicks in their pants unless they are married, intend to be good husbands and fathers and have a mutual agreement with their partners to become parents?

[@cr-lb5yh]

Abortion is taking responsibility in situations where a person does not feel they can raise or care for a child. You might not like it, but it's not your decision to make.

[@HSMfanatic17]

@@dw6418 This is a privileged perspective.

[@amybynum3765]

Call the midwife is one of the best depictions I’ve ever seen of how life can be with numerous children! I had 7 myself and because I was in Ohio and unmarried, even though I was considered common law there at the time, they wouldn’t tie my tubes! I cried, I begged, I pleaded, they would not until I was 25 there! I had 7 babies by 23 and I only stopped having them when I left the man at the time cause I just couldn’t handle anymore! The fact that things like this exist to me is ridiculous! Now they’ve taken away the option of intervention pretty much all the way. It scares me for my children and theirs

[@aliciaarroyo6]

My hospital said I need to be over 35 and have a husbands consent to tie mine. I wasn’t married I just didn’t want babies. The law needs changed. Men can make that choice for themselves at 18 and need no one’s permission. It’s sexist!

[@amybynum3765]

@@aliciaarroyo6 I totally agree! I ended up raising 7 babies by myself and struggling my entire life to just feed them, all because some male doctor decided I didn’t have the right not to

[@TwoIdiosyncraticCats]

@@aliciaarroyo6 It is sexist! Which is why my son and his partner agreed that he'd get a vasectomy. Neither of them wanted bio-children, she had problems with BC pills, so he immediately volunteered. I am so proud of him.

[@laurenanderson7330]

May I ask why you couldn’t use any form of birth control like pills or condoms?

[@NeonshiAmor]

This really hit home. My great grandmother after having two children got pregnant again. She knew her and my great grandfather weren't able to afford a third child so she opted to get an illegal abortion. The doctor she went to used unclean tools and she ended up dying three days later of blood poisoning. So my grandmother at the age of four lost her mother. Accessible reproductive health care is so important.

[@Jamie-813]

I cried at the ending. It was heart-wrenching to think she didn't survive, but such a relief that she did and they had a good outcome. I'm really disheartened and sad that there are people who think forcing women and families into this position will result in good things.

[@avanguline]

She had a good outcome, This show has done other episodes that weren't so positive, with one woman dying from an infection, and another surviving but being rendered infertile. The whole show is amazing about addressing all sorts of topics, from immigration, to poverty, to homophobia. I definitely recommend it, but absolutely keep a tissue box on hand.

[@hannahk1306]

@@avanguline I second this, also the polio, TB and thalidomide storylines are well worth a watch too. Basically, watch it all from the beginning - it really brings history to life as well as highlighting modern issues.

[@deannaalbert672]

@Hannah K fun fact, Doctor Who and Call the Midwife are fans of each other. The Doctor watched ALL the episodes of CtM, and Sister Monica Joan has been watching DW since it's first episode!

[@Reaganmayhaps]

This show is incredible. And while this episode did have a happy ending, there are episodes that don't. One woman tries to have an abortion and subsequently dies, while another succeeds but is left infertile. I agree with the other reply, the show addresses so many important topics in the context of 1950's-1960's life (like homophobia, immigration, racism, etc.)

[@Lilian040210]

Those -people- dogs don't want "good things", they want to show dominance by shitting on everybody, that's the point. All the bs they say is to make themselves look "good" and righteous is to feel superior, they do not care about babies or anybody else because they don't have the capacity to

[@britthalaas]

I used to be anti-choice. But then I educated myself...thank you for continuing to educate so more people learn the truth instead of the scare tactics of the right.

[@muriel5826]

I agree 💯. I really appreciate the respectful and thorough way that MDJ explains her position. She helped change my opinion, too

[@christinanadine7617]

So important that you talk about this! I love your videos… I worked as a nurse for planned parenthood 10 years ago and helped with lots of abortions… I saw do many desperate women that scratched their last dollars together to afford it. No women I met made that choice lightly!

[@katfoster845]

Even in the UK, access to contraception is supposed to be free on the NHS. However, sexual health clinics are closing at an alarming rate and waiting lists for long acting reversible contraceptives keep rising. It's viewed, predominantly by men, as something that can be sacrificed and as less essential than other forms of healthcare. It's also viewed as less urgent, so patients are sent to the back of the waiting list for appointments with the GP or practice nurse. For some people, long acting contraceptives are absolutely essential. During the pandemic, sexual health services were shut entirely. Many have not reopened or have reopened with reduced hours. The only contraceptive available was the progesterone only pill and condoms. Whilst they're great for some people, they're not a panacea. Some people don't get on with the pill and prefer a copper iud. Others prefer the implant. We need to demand not just access to contraceptive services, but ensuring everyone has free access to all forms of contraception as is a right. They should not be rationed or effectively inaccessible due to a lack of services. We have a right to choose what contraceptive is best for us, not forced onto something that might not be right because it's easier and cheaper for doctors.

[@Tricia_K]

Oh wow - I'm a Brit myself, but hadn't heard about this! Which is problematic in itself...

[@katfoster845]

@@Tricia_K yeah, it isn't discussed well at all.

[@Rhianalanthula]

During August 2020, I had a coil fitted by a GP at my surgery. We are lucky to have at least one GP who specialises is female health.

[@katfoster845]

@@Rhianalanthula That's lucky, but it shouldn't be about luck. It should be universal that everyone in the UK has access to sexual health services including STI screening and all forms of contraception within two weeks. I was forced onto the pill during covid, even though I said I didn't want it and it was unsuitable. I was lectured about the importance of remembering to take it when I was doing shift work and struggled to remember. I'm lucky I didn't get pregnant and have to navigate the minefield that is abortion access.

[@Ale_ER]

This is the only show that has made me cry in every single episode. I’m not even a mother yet. “Our job is not to judge but to help”

[@ivyateve]

It was only the 70s that my mother needed my father's written consent to have her tubes tied. The doctor refused to do otherwise and believe it or not, it was in my mothers best interest. Without her husbands consent, it meant he could divorce her with her at fault and losing all custody of the rest of us, this despite the fact that the last pregnancy almost killed her and a subsequent one almost surely would. My mother basically had to choose between her life and her kids. Luckily the doctor managed to persuade my dad.

[@juliereis146]

I hate to admit it but some offices/practices still require that to this day in the U.S.. In the early 2000’s I had to go through a “cool down” period before I could get mine done. Like I’m a child making an impulsive decision about a body piercing or something smh 🤦‍♀️

[@TisOnlyAScratch]

@@juliereis146 I think an 18 year old who never had kids and doesn't show any risk to his or her own health by getting pregnant (or making someone else pregnant) should have that cooling off period of at least a week after watching a video (or whatever method is used to absorb the information) of the realities and risks of sterilization. A man or woman of any age who has no health issues who has given birth to (or fathered) only 1 or 2 kids should be given the information before sterilization on the same day (if appointment is available). Any man or woman giving birth to (or fathering) 3 or more kids should just be able to be informed of the risks of the sterilization (as anyone would with any medical procedure) and what to expect after sterilization while making the appointment and getting the procedure.

[@kelly1827]

@@TisOnlyAScratch Why these arbitrary numbers? Why does a person have to be required to have children before deciding they don't want to be pregnant or parent? I personally know people who chose permanent sterilization because of genetic conditions in their families. As an example, someone who has a parent with Huntington's disease has a 50% chance of developing the fatal, incurable disease. Why would you force someone to take the chance of passing that on to future children who they likely won't live to see grow into adulthood if they do develop it? And that's just one example.

[@lovelana3595]

@@juliereis146 I am pro choice but I think it is in the best interest of the pregnant female (adult or child/teenage pregnancy)to be unbiasedly counselled of all of her options and required at least a day or even week(? with the exception being a physical life threatening pregnancy situation) prior to an abortion being performed. I care about the potential future adverse psychological & emotional health of the pregnant woman as much as the physical health-whether she then decides to go forward with terminating pregnancy or not. I am speaking from my own personal experience of having had a teenage pregnancy decades ago.

[@TisOnlyAScratch]

I wrote a response earlier but it was immediately deleted. I'm rewriting it and will use tactics to prevent deletion so information is communicated. If something sounds weirdly written, this is why. Response: The arbitrary numbers are an acknowedgment that there is no perfect answer but also insisting there should be some kind of waiting and education period before permanent sterilization. Reason 1 - ENSURE FULL INFORMATION EDUCATION HAS BEEN PROVIDED AND IS UNDERSTOOD: Regret later in life for getting it done may convince the person to sue everyone who was involved in that decision process to have the procedure and those who performed the procedure. Medical professionals will utilize this to cover their tails. Reason 2 - AVOID SITUATIONS WHERE SOMEONE IS RECEIVING THE PROCEDURE AGAINST HIS OR HER WILL: 3

[@CW1971]

Hearing the lady in Call the Midwife saying she'd have another and another until she threw herself out of the window, reminded me of an elderly lady i used to care for in a nursing home way back before i did my nurse training. She was called Toby, her dad nicknamed her that as a child and it stuck, she was 98 when i met her in the early 1990s so she was born in the 1890s. She always used to tell the story, quite matter of factly, that she was the 11th child of 13, when her mother fell pregnant with the 14th child, she went up on the roof and threw herself off killing herself instantly. Toby said her dad was left with 13 girls to look after and he did a great job of raising them but it must've been so hard, i can't even imagine how tough it was

[@vivianeharalamb]

To all of those who contributeur to this video : Thank you for your videos. I really mean It. Your work on KZbin is precious and appreciated .

[@nancyreid8729]

I had an abortion in my early 20s because the situation was impossible; broke, homeless, unemployed, uninsured, and the boyfriend ran out on me; but I had a choice, a local Planned Parenthood clinic, and friends to loan me money. And abortion was safe and legal then. I can’t say it was pleasant, and the hormone crash afterwards was hell, but I got through it. I never did have any kids, but I also never had any regrets; I got to control my own body and my own destiny.

[@OyarsaElentari]

@@rachellarisey A Jesus loving Christian would adopt one of the hundreds of thousands of children already available for adoption rather than attempting to manipulate and guilt someone else via pseudo sympathy. They would help a single parent raise a child for 18 years instead of telling themselves that their obligation ended when a pregnancy does.

[@nancyreid8729]

@@rachellarisey you have a lot of brass presuming all those things about me; that I would have wanted to continue with a pregnancy, that I would have wanted to shelter with christians, that I bear any scars on my soul. Do me a favor and keep your opinions to yourself; they have no room in my life, and you are very presumptuous to think yourself the arbiter of anyone else’s choices. And that is at the heart of this issue; we each should be able to make our own choices.

[@jglobetrotter2830]

@@rachellarisey pregnancy has permanent effects on your body. It isn’t a nine-month inconvenience. It can, quite commonly, result in very long term health problems.

[@violaplayer26]

I started working as a clinic escort after my own experience with PP.

[@leiapeison]

You made the right choice. You have my support

[@spiders_silk]

I rewatch seasons 1-3 of call the midwife on a regular basis and this one always, ALWAYS hits hard. Because I know it's not something left in the past, unsafe abortion is happening every day in the US. Thank you for talking about this.

[@emmajones8590]

I had downloaded the first couple of seasons on to harddisk, but couldn't get hold of the rest. Netflix has stopped the show in Europe. I eventually have bought myself the entire set of these dvd's as a Christmas present to myself. One episode that sticks in my mind, is of the pregnant girl with Down Syndrome. She eventually lost the child. She had a relationship with a guy who was spastic and with a speech impediment. They wanted to marry, but there was no question of it. The relationship was broken up and they were placed in different houses, never to see each other again.

[@sassybooklover739]

This episode broke my heart. Husband's had to agree to birth control and refused to do anything to prevent it. Wives were expected to always be available to their husbands.

[@chrisfry436]

I was getting ready to have my first, and I had some issues that one was my size, Dr said if I had a 1# baby I could not have it vaginally, so I had a C-section....and bled a LOT, was in hospital 4/5 days, long time to recover and then 8yrs later getting ready to deliver my 2nd had used the pill at it made me ill, so switched to "foam"...so I asked Dr for a Tubal ligation...he agreed and then I went to hospital 2 weeks later and they refused, said I did not ask far enough ahead?? and my husband had not signed...........the permission slip for it to be done, (I am not kidding, it was 1984) so I could come back in a month or so and have it done if I did all the stuff. I was sooo upset as I was making sure I had no more and I was already going to be opened up on the table!! do it right then!! the Dr asked "what is going on"...and I told him and he was quiet and then the next a.m I had my C-section and there was an emergency and I bled A LOT again and there was trouble, but I ended up waking up in recovery some hours later, did not see baby until next day....BUT the Dr came in to see me that evening to check after my troubles and when leaving said "dont worry about the tubal....I did it, it is done".......

[@noreenelizabeth6617]

Yeah.. the part about her saying that she could just not have sex but she'd pay for it in other ways... it made me cringe.

[@mmtmc2320]

I'm a Canadian and in the 1970s my mum had her tubes tied after myself and two brothers. And she STILL had to get my father's "permission" before dr agreed to do it. Makes my blood boil just thinking about it.

[@silvermoonpie7942]

@@noreenelizabeth6617apologies if you’ve seen the whole episode, or if I’m misinterpreting your comment, but the rest of the scene after this shows she means they lose a bit of their closeness as a couple, rather than meaning anything more sinister. A scene between the couple at a different point highlights they they “have our fun dont we” to show it’s not a forced kinda situation

[@sneakypenguin2861]

If you havent already, please read the books by Jennifer Worth (nurse Jenny Lee) Call the Midwife and Farewell to the East End, its a fascinating look into nursing and midwifery in the 50s and 60s, she also wrote one called Shadow of the Workhouse which is the hardest read of all but they're fascinating

[@lizregan1949]

I read the books, and the show does a wonderful job of following the stories in the books.

[@sneakypenguin2861]

@@lizregan1949 absolutely! Its just such a shame Jenny died before the first episode was aired. She had such an interesting life.

[@carag2567]

100% agree! The books are fascinating and heartbreaking at once and go into MUCH more detail than what is covered in the series, even though the series does a fantastic job of bringing Jennifer Worth's stories to life.

[@ManoukVisser]

I had an mirena iud when I got pregnant as a 19 yo student. It is really rare, but it happens. I’m 29 now and 24 weeks pregnant with my first child. I’m so so happy I had a choice back then and will now have a baby with the means to care for it and the right partner.

[@TH-de1yu]

I was raised pro-life. In the past year or two, now I consider myself pro-choice. But I still don’t feel like it’s an option for me personally. My past cycle was 6 days late, and I got to the point I was so scared I could be pregnant that I couldn’t not think of ways to hurt myself. It’s such a scary position to be in and my heart goes out to everyone else who’s been there or is there. I think it’s such an important topic to discuss and I’m glad you’re giving it the attention it needs.

[@jennyh4025]

Thank you for writing this. I love it, when people say the are pro-choice, but can’t imagine it for themselves. That shows what pro-choice actually means. It’s not pro-abortion, but to give everyone the choice to either carry or terminate in a safe way.

[@rlud304]

“Pro-life” is the most misleading dishonest expression because it’s nothing of the sort. It’s a straw man slogan of those who don’t understand how logic works. Criminalization of women and health care professionals is not pro-life. It’s pro-oppression. In fact I’m going to start referring to people who think they can reduce such an incredibly complex issue to “I’m pro-life” (in order to falsely think of themselves as good people without actually having to do anything good in the world) as pro-oppression or anti women’s health. Can we stop using the bogus term of pro-life because it’s in fact the the complete opposite of that causing immeasurable harm and unnecessary suffering. It’s actually sadistic. If you’re pro life you’re actually sadistic under the bullshit guise of “righteousness.”

[@carmen5267]

Thank you so much for the important work that you're doing. I live in Austria - here we thankfully have access to safe reproductive health care, but my heart breaks for every woman out there, who does not have safe access. Continue fighting and continue bringing awareness to the importance of choice!

[@jlyons9114]

Call The Midwife is my absolute favorite show I've ever seen! It's got the best writers. With it being set in the time period it is, they touch on so many historically accurate situations. You will cry, laugh, and everything in between every single episode. I never imagined that this show would be so relatable in current times. Thank you for talking about this, I wish politicians would leave these things up to doctors instead of meddling in affairs they are not medically trained to deal with!

[@HMAP792]

Thankyou MDJ for doing what is right, on so many levels. The dangers of this as a whole needs to be brought out and discussed. Whether people agree with it or not eyes need to be opened.

[@Amanda-zn7ox]

This is EXACTLY why we need access to professional, sanitary abortions and birth control! While it does sadden me if a woman wants to terminate a pregnancy, it's not my place to force them into carrying a fetus to full-term. I know I wouldn't want to be forced to carry a baby! And it's important that I stay on birth control, not to prevent pregnancy, but to treat my endometriosis and PCOS. If that wasn't available, I could wind up with an ectopic pregnancy, and risk both myself and my baby's lives! I hope with all my heart that I can someday be a mother, and raise wonderful and kind children, as my mom did for my sister and I. I think 3 is my limit, but I want at least 1. Kinda hoping for girls, but it depends on who the father will be, and what the more common gender is on both our family sides. And other science-y stuff, too.

[@batemon85]

I don't know, I come from a family of 7 brothers and only one sister. My husband is the oldest of 5 boys. We have two girls (wanted 3 kids, but for medical reasons I had to have a tubal ligation), and most of both of our siblings only have girls. Of my parents 37 grandchildren, only 5 were boys. We always joke that our parents used up all the boy genes in their generation. But I wholeheartedly agree with you; what is a right decision for one person isn't going to be a universally correct decision for another, and I hate that women's issues are politicized!!

[@sharonwalker5054]

I'm one of three girls, my mom is one of three girls, and her mom was one of four girls. I have two boys. 😂

[@dollface2917]

With a 100 % certainty, if men were the ones to carry, and be the main caregivers of babies, the U.S wouldn’t have made such a decision. I’m happily married to my husband of 22 years, he’s an amazing dad to our 3 children. However, men are able to walk away from their kids, without much judgement from society. Women are judged for having ‘fatherless’ babies, judged for needing help as a single mother, and judged for wanting an abortion. I’m lucky I’ve never been in that situation, but I have no right to judge others.

[@nicolevelez7919]

My mom had an illegal abortion. She almost bled to death. Luckily, her roommate found her and took her to the hospital. The doctors told her that she couldn't have any children. The doctors put on her records that she had a miscarriage. Now, my girls will not have the option to safe abortion. I have to rely on my husband to sign off a sterilization for me to get. My husband was upset that he has to do it for me.

[@Nan-59]

Do you live in the United States?? If so, what state?😢😮😮😮

[@flii87]

I live in Ohio and it sucks. I've tried 5 different doctors so far, all say no. I'm 36 and I have a health condition that would kill me if I get pregnant. My husband got tired of it and is getting snipped soon. but it still hurts that I'm not considered smart enough or old enough to know that I DO NOT EVER WANT TO HAVE CHILDREN AND I DO NOT WANT TO RISK MY LIFE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

[@sct4040]

Make an appointment with Plan Parenthood and drive to a pro choice state.

[@juliancain3872]

​​@@flii87 As backwards as it sounds, perhaps if you brought your husband in with you to the appointment if you haven't tried before it might help. I know it's different but when I wanted to get snipped because my wife's pregnancy with her son, I wasn't there but what she told me was a horror show. No one would let her tie her tubes despite a doctor's recommendation. So I decided to be the one to get it done. I thought it might be easier to get one because... well you know. They wouldn't let me despite having a daughter, we had her when I was twenty, I tried three different doctors, only when I brought my wife with me did the physician actually agree to do it. Scary part is, this was freaking California.

[@lillipi3594]

This sucks, but also, your husband should not be upset that he has to sign it off for you but get a vasectomy instead ....

[@kayleighjordan7066]

Series 8 of call the midwife is all about backstreet abortions the season finale reveals who was behind the horrific event of the season. Definitely worth watching as its far more devastating showing the lengths woman went to end unwanted pregnancies, and the effects of such procedures.

[@nicolefarrugia4914]

Just thinking about that story arc gives me chills, and I’ve watched the series a couple of times through. So powerful, so well written, so well acted. It’s perfectly done.

[@jenniferferguson1517]

Yea MDJ could do a whole series on series 8 alone. It is amazing!!

[@susanbenes4094]

This series was so good! I am sorry you had problems getting this released.

[@RuminatingRaptor]

What seems so be ignored, is how she did everything she could to prevent another pregnancy, but her husband wouldn't keep off her. I find that disturbing and disgusting, yet not much is mentioned about that.

[@frankenstein6677]

So a couple should just stop having sex?

[@hannahdyson7129]

​@@frankenstein6677There where condoms then. They could give couples advice on how to avoid pregancy as well . Things where starting to improve regarding family planning

[@scifiakiraguy]

I would disagree. I don't think the implication is that her husband forced himself upon her against her will. Although in that time period, marital rape definitely wasn't recognized. The couple depicted here clearly love each other and have a robust sexual life. Even if they tried to stay apart it wouldn't worked well for them because people in love are going to act out their love in physical ways. I would argue that if the desire for sexual intimacy is present in a relationship, then it doesn't just turn off for either men or women. She said "We try to stay away from each other, but you end up paying for that in other ways," i.e. if we aren't physically intimate with each other, then that is injurious to our relationship.

[@catoninetales]

This is actually mentioned in the full show, her husband basically says "it's all my fault, I'm sorry I got you pregnant" and she says "it's not like you ever forced me." The show really goes out of its way to emphasize that this is a positive, loving relationship. It wants to make a point that people seeking termination are not always unmarried girls or victims of rape. Even by the strictest standards, they had a right to their intimacy but the law still didn't allow for family planning. (As is mentioned in one of the clips, her contraception consultation and equipment wouldn't be covered by Britain's National Health Service, though it covered the midwives' visits.)

[@peterjackson4763]

@@catoninetales As also mentioned it would be covered by the Family Planning Association - a charity. UK law did allow for family planning. The first birth control clinic in the UK was opened in 1921 by Marie Stopes. Some birth control advocates were found guilty of "obscene" publication. Stopes described their pamphlet as "prurient". Her publications were not banned. Marie Stopes lectured at British universities in the 1950s. My Dad attended such a lecture as a medical student.

[@aurealecha9800]

10 years ago I got pregnant unexpectedly of my 3rd child. It was a Thursday when my doctor, with an ultrasound told me the news. I'm Spanish. Here we've got the right to choose. My doctor saw my reaction as he told me, i was on shock. He said, keep calm. Think about this these weekend and let me know what you've choosen on Tuesday. But whatever you choose, you may not change afterwards, he said. Now i have put my 10 year old girl to bed while i'm writing this, and i don't regret anything. But i was lucky to have the opportunity to choose.

[@littlemermaid8638]

I'm glad that your unexpected pregnancy turned out in a way you're happy and content with - your daughter!

[@aurealecha9800]

Thanks!

[@Miss.sassycassy]

The fact that you felt better about being an obgyn in a different country says so much already. Thank you for standing up for people with vaginas

[@ItHasChicken]

It’s not politics, it’s reality. It’s your job, you see things every day, this IS your lane. I appreciate you and your content so much. ❤️

[@diannazugai2640]

I've watched this series from the beginning. My daughter is a labor and delivery nurse in Texas. The stories from her and an OB friend are just heart wrenching. Thank you for posting this episode. This is so much more than what pro life is, also consider the life of the mother, or the child of incest, rape. You're awesome to put you view as an OB doctor out for everyone to see. Keep it going!!