Call The Midwife

Christmas 1963 sees Poplar under a thick blanket of snow, as the midwives face the challenge of the coldest winter for 300 years. Temperatures plunge to a record low and the whole country is brought to a standstill due to the severe weather. Battling snow, ice, power cuts and frozen pipes, the midwives strive to provide the best possible care for their patients. Valerie helps a young couple, newly arrived in London, who experience a traumatic birth, and Sister Julienne strives to reunite a family torn apart by a tormenting father.

Owing to the snow, Lucille is two days late and her start is bumpy when she falls ill. Lucille is called out from her sick bed to assist Trixie with a breech birth. Nadine Mulvaney, a single mother and exotic dancer in Soho, plans to give the baby up for adoption. But, Trixie is concerned that Nadine's Rhesus Negative blood type might cause problems for baby.

Lucille faces racism and prejudice when a new mother falls ill. Sister Winifred is keen to have fathers be more involved in the care of their babies.

Nurse Crane and Trixie investigate when a mother abandons her children at the clinic, fearing they were being abused or neglected. Her husband admits that she has been behaving strangely lately, and when she is referred to a neurologist by Dr Turner, the truth proves devastating for the whole family. Christopher admits that Alexandra has been unhappy since his divorce, and Violet and Fred organise a beauty contest to raise money for charity. Valerie and Magda both sign up and quickly become close friends - leading to the sharing of a terrible secret.

Sister Julienne is drawn into the heart of a different culture when she is called upon to help a Pakistani family. Having come to terms with her own childlessness, Mumtaz Gani is heartbroken when her husband, Saddiq, brings home a second wife who is eight months pregnant. Sister Julienne must help Mumtaz to terms with this new addition to her family. Elsewhere, Trixie struggles to cope after her break up with Christopher and looks for comfort at the bottom of a bottle. But it's not long before she can no longer conceal her struggle with sobriety.

Rumours spread around Poplar that a sailor with smallpox is hiding somewhere in town. Nurse Crane and Dr Turner try to track him down before he causes an outbreak. Lucille treats an expectant mother on her own, but soon feels out of her depth when she displays signs of a serious medical condition. Trixie goes to stay with her godmother, Violet and Fred organise a picnic for the parish, and Tom and Barbara return home.

Barbara helps a pregnant mother-of-two whose husband has recently died, and is on hand to give her support when a further tragedy drives her and her children from their home. Lucille teaches a health and relationships class at the youth club, only to encounter a furious mother who objects to her daughter attending. Sister Monica Joan goes into hospital for cataract surgery.

Barbara's condition is not improving and she is kept in isolation at the hospital, leaving her friends able to do nothing but wait for more news. Dr Turner and Shelagh assist a man being held in a remand home whose wife is pregnant, while Lucille makes some new friends.

The team must rally to prepare for Sister Monica Joan's birthday. Meanwhile the closing of a nearby maternity home brings an influx of expectant mothers onto the team's books. Lucille meets Olive Mawson, whose father Stanley Hodgkiss has a secret he can no longer keep.