Call the Midwife season 14 has reunited us with all our Nonnatus House favorites as we arrive in 1070s Poplar for more twists, turns and, of course, expectant mothers and babies!
The Call the Midwife Christmas specials 2024 kickstarted the new series in style with Trixie returning from New York, Reggie going missing and panic for Nonnatus House as the building's future was thrown into jeopardy. Now we have reached the spring of 1970 and Nonnatus House is under threat once again.
Here is everything that happened in Call the Midwife season 14 episode 3...
The third epsiode opens with Phyllis talking about a patient called Alf who had prostate surgery and has been released with a catheter in place that will be there for three days. Going home with a catheter is a new thing and she asks Joyce to go and visit him on the Robin Hood estate.
Sister Veronica asks Joyce to visit a vulnerable family who also live on the same estate. The mother is Mrs Willilams who was recently widowed with three young children and rehoused after being in a homeless hostel. Once there, Joyce sees that the youngest child has a bad nappy rash, they are all underweight and also have impetigo. Mrs Williams tells Joyce that she loves her children, but Joyce is quick to reassure her that no one thinks otherwise and fate has just dealt them a cruel blow.
The midwives hold an antenatal relaxation class and Mrs Lasley turns up with her husband who is a flashy businessman with his own business selling vending machines but Shelagh isn't convinced that they are going to catch on!
Alf isn't happy about being seen by Joyce and she is annoyed when he asks her to speak slowly becasue he 'can't understand her'. He asks her to do some shopping for him as he can't walk far and she agrees but is cross when he bashes on the ceiling with a broom to make Mrs Williams and her children upstairs know he isn't happy about all the noise they are making.
Meanwhile, there is good news that evening at Nonnatus House, becasue the midwives' pay packets are in and this month they include back payments with the wage increase they all fought so hard for. Rosalind feels bad that the sisters don't benefit from the pay increase and Joyce reminds her that they have taken a vow of poverty and that they understand.
Mrs Williams is forced to leave her three children at home while she goes out to work and when she returns Joyce catches her running back to the flat where all her children are scared and crying after waking up to find her missing.
Norma Lasley goes into labour and is calm and collected as she arrives at the maternity hospital where Rosalind helps her deliver a daughter. However, when the baby arrives Rosalind notices a big blister on the baby's back and Dr Turner confirms that it is full of spinal fluid and that the baby has spina bifida. When he tells the parents they are upset that she will need an operation and soon.
Joyce collects Alf's mint imperials, newspaper and cigarettes and Fred remembers him as one of their regular customers and admits that he thought he might have died after he stopped visiting the shop. Joyce tells him he is a tricky patient and has just moved into a new home that needs work and so Fred agrees to go and visit him with his toolkit. When Joyce returns to Alf's he accuses her of stealing his money, when she has already given him his shopping and change.
At Nonnatus House Sister Julienne tells Trixie that they have had the date for their meeting with the board of health through and it doesn't give them long to prepare. Trixie says she will be the sole representative of Nonnatus House at the meeting and promises to convince them that they still need the service that Nonnatus House provides in Poplar.
Norma Lasley and her husband are blaming themselves for the fact their daughter has spina bifida and soon the ambulance arrives to take her to St Cuthbert's. But later, Rosalind catches them packing Norma's bag and the couple announces they can't give their daughter what she needs and have decided she will be better off in care. Rosalind tries to stop them from leaving but they won't listen and are adamant they have made the right decision.
While everyone at Nonnatus House tries to remain positive and hope that Mr and Mrs Lasley just need time to get over the shock, they know that social services must be informed. However, when Doctor Turner has a meeting with social services they are reluctant to get involved becasue they have so many impoverished children in care that they don't have the resources to 'get involved'. They say that a couple with Mr and Mrs Lasley's social standing means they need to focus on getting the parents to take responsibility for their daughter.
Elsewhere, Doctor Turner takes out Alf's catheter while Fred arrives to see him and do the DIY jobs that Joyce mentioned. Alf is rude about Joyce again until Fred tells him it was her idea that he came to visit. Soon Alf is released from care and Joyce tells him she won't be visiting anymore, while Fred goes home and tells Violet that he never takes her for granted, reminded how lucky he is by Alf's loneliness.
Doctor Turner and Sister Veronica are pleased to hear that Baby Lasley's operation went well and she is now stable. Sister Veronica and Rosalind go to see Norma and she asks what is next after being checked over by Rosalind. Sister Veronica tries to talk to her about having the baby back at home, but she is adamant that she can't give her baby what she needs and hands over all her baby clothes. On the way out Sister Veronica and Rosalind bump into Mr Lasley and he is heartbroken about the whole thing, telling them they probably think they're terrible people for giving up on their daughter and that even if they are blessed as a couple to have more children, things will never be the same again.
At the surgery, Shelagh has made a sneaky purchase and bought Doctor Turner an automatic coffee maker, but while she can't wait to see his face when it is all set up - Miss Higgins is most put out, pointing out that making Doctor Turner's coffee is her job!
Baby Lasley is released from the hospital and with nowhere else to go, they take her in at the maternity home and decide she needs a proper name. Miss Higgins points out she was born in June, and so that could be her name. When she arrives at the maternity home, Sister Veronica and Rosalind take on June's care, and with the parents declining the job of registering her birth, the job falls to Rosalind as she was the one who delivered her.
Each of the Nonnatus House nuns and midwives takes care of June, and it is a real team effort, to bring her back to health as she recovers from surgery. However, with her parents and social services turning their back on little June, the midwives at Nonnatus House have no choice but to contact the local orphanage and get them to take her in.
The following day, Joyce is at the Robin Hood estate to see Mrs Willilams when there is a huge gas explosion from Alf's flat. Everyone is evacuated and Fred turns up to help. But when Mrs Williams comes home from work, she panics that her children are in the flat upstairs on their own and Fred offers to go in and get them as the building isn't safe.
Inside he finds Alf has already gone to the children and is looking after them. Fred takes them out of the building and promises to go back for Alf, but when he leaves Alf collapses. Thankfully the paramedics get him out just in time, and Mrs Williams thanks both Fred and Alf for saving her children. Alf seems pleased and his hard exterior is cracked at last when he passes on the same kindness that Joyce showed to him.
Later, Mrs Williams is rehoused in a nice new apartment with her three children and Alf is back on his feet, having been released from hospital after the explosion. He returns Joyce's kindness by paying for her shopping the next time he pops into Fred's shop.
Sister Julienne and Nurse Crane see Trixie off as she heads off for the meeting with the board of health. Trixie gives as good as she gets in the meeting, bamboozling the board with facts and figures that she has spent hours researching. Eventually, the board makes a decision about the future of Nonnatus House and at the end of the episode Trixie gets home to tell everyone the news that Nonnatus House has been saved and lives to fight another day.
In the UK Call the Midwife season 14 airs on Sundays on BBC One at 8pm. In the US the series will start in March 2025 on PBS.
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