'Call the Midwife' Recap: Season 9 Episode 3
Welcome back to another Call the Midwife recap! Elderly narrator Jenny tells us that it is May and spring has truly arrived in Poplar. This week focuses on the outstanding service of Nurses Crane and Anderson (and in Lucille’s case, how dedication to your job can mess with your private life.) The midwives also come together for a worthy and fashionable fundraising event spearheaded by Nurse Franklin and Mrs. Buckle.
Nurse Crane and the Mohammeds
Nurse Crane makes a routine visit to the school to check on the students’ vaccinations. The Mohammed brothers, two well-mannered boys recently arrived from East Pakistan, are a concern to Phyllis. She finds them a little on the thin side and wonders who is looking after them at home. Miss Graham (Emilia Williams), who is evidently the only teacher at the school this year, says their father brought them the first day and since then they come to school on their own.
Phyllis follows her intuition and makes a surprise home visit to the Mohammeds. There she encounters an awful smell and an obviously unwell Mrs. Farzina Mohammed (Salma Hoque) whose sari is stained and her feet are badly chafed.
Phyllis sends the boys outside before posing some delicate questions to Mrs. M about bladder control and the whereabouts of her husband. Apparently, he is shamed by her “dirtiness” and has gone to live with friends. Embarrassed and upset, the homebound woman asks Nurse Crane to leave. Phyllis promises to come back and reiterates there is no shame in being sick.
When Nurse Crane returns, she has clothes for the boys and Dr. Turner is en route. It turns out Mrs. M’s incontinence started back in Pakistan when she lost her baby girl after four days in labor. Farzina refuses to let the doctor examine her so Nurse Crane enlists her sons to help locate their father. Once at Mr. Mohammed’s lodgings, Phyllis asks him to help them communicate with his wife about her condition and treatment. He is hesitant and sullen, but she reminds him of his responsibility to his family. The boys plead with him and he relents.
Back at the flat, Mr. M serves as translator for Dr. Turner and Nurse Crane. At first the Mohammeds argue about how things have deteriorated between them since they lost their daughter. Dr. Turner turns the focus back to helping Mrs. M and suggests having Nurse Crane doing the examination instead which Farzina agrees to.
Phyllis finds broken skin, infected sores and an obstetric fistula caused by Mrs. M’s traumatic labor. This condition will require surgery to repair the damage. Farzina fears going to a hospital, but when she asks if Phyllis will accompany her, of course the nurse immediately agrees. She also thoughtfully chooses a beautiful length of floral silk as a gift for a woman who definitely needs something pretty in her life after a horrible ordeal. What a compassionate advocate Phyllis is for her patients!
Meanwhile Dr. Turner councils Mr. Mohammad on what he hopes will be a full recovery for his wife. While the husband pleads his case that he didn’t know she had an injury or that she was unwell, Patrick doesn’t let him off the hook for abandoning his wife.
In the end, the entire family visits a recovering Mrs. M at St. Cuthbert's, and it looks as though they have a good chance of being a happy family again.
The Very Busy Life of Nurse Anderson
Lately Nurse Anderson and her beau’s overloaded schedules have kept them apart. Case in point, a celebration of Cyril (Zephryn Taitte) for finishing his exams has to be postponed when Lucille is delayed by a delivery. And her life is about to get even more hectic when Sister Julienne chooses Lucille to fill in as supervisor of pupil midwives at St. Cuthbert’s hospital.
Once there, Lucille meets a formidable patient in Mrs. Connie Blair (Hannah Onslow) who is on bed rest. Her superior attitude and openly rude behavior towards Nurse Anderson would fluster the most patient soul. (Anyone else reminded of one of Catherine Tate’s unpleasant sketch comedy characters?) But unfortunately, Nurse Anderson has encountered this type of animosity before and keeps her interactions professional and authoritative.
