Is Call the Midwife based on a true story? Details explored

BBC's Call the Midwife has been one of the most successful long-running dramas in the past decades, having successfully aired 13 seasons, with more to come in the future if things go right. The series follows midwives and their mothers giving birth in poverty-stricken post-war Britain, giving a glimpse at the difficult social conditions that once existed.

While the show addresses enduring issues relevant to new parents, there have often been questions about the show's origins or whether all of it is based on real events. In a nutshell, it is based on true events, but none of the things that happen in the show have actually happened. So it is inspired by true events and based on true experience, but boasts an original story.

Rather, Call the Midwife is based on a series of three memoirs by Jennifer Worth, who wrote the books from her experience in East End London when she worked as a nurse. The first book was released in 2002 and was an instant hit. It inspired the series and some of the characters, but most of the things that happen over the 13 seasons are part of an original script with no relation to reality.

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Call the Midwife: What is fact and what is fiction?

Most of the social conditions depicted in the show are rooted in factual experiences that the author had while working as a midwife and nurse in East End London in the 1950s.

In fact, Jessica Raine's portrayal of Jenny Lee was inspired by the author herself. It remained one of the standout characters during the tenure. Moreover, some of the other characters, like Jenny Agutter's Sister Julienne, are based on real people but are not exactly biographical.

Moreover, Nonnatus House, one of the most crucial elements in Call the Midwife, is not real either. But the condition of East End London was replicated quite faithfully, and it is one of the elements that is more fact than fiction.

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What is Call the Midwife all about?

Call the Midwife is a BBC period drama series centered around a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London during the late 1950s and 1960s. With the show's long and enduring run, there have been multiple rotations in the cast members, but the series has prominently featured Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, Helen George, Bryony Hannah, Laura Main, Jenny Agutter, Pam Ferris, and Judy Parfitt, among others, over the years.

Produced by Sam Mendes' company, the show began airing in January 2012 and has since aired 13 seasons, with the latest one concluding on March 3, 2024. The series has had eight episodes in all thirteen of its seasons.

It deals with the day-to-day activities of the midwives and those in their local neighborhood of Poplar. The synopsis for the series reads:

"A group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s deal with the pressures of their day-to-day lives while trying to cope with the changes in the world around them."

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Call the Midwife is available for streaming on PBS.