‘Call the Midwife’ Season 13 Episode 1 recap

The thirteenth season of Call the Midwife began tonight!

Following last month’s Christmas special, the BBC’s hit period drama about a group of nurse midwives in the East End of London is back with eight new episodes.

“It is now the final months of the Sixties, and more babies are being born in hospital than ever before,” reveals the official synopsis for Season 13.

“Pressure on maternity beds remains extremely high across the country but Poplar is coping better than most due to the work of Nonnatus House and the popularity of home births under the auspices of the Sisters,” we’re told.

Here’s a scene from tonight’s episode:

Season 13 is airing in the UK at 8pm on Sunday nights on BBC One and streaming on BBC iPlayer.

Call the Midwife will return on American television this spring on PBS Masterpiece.

Watch a clip of newcomer Natalie Quarry as Rosalind, one of two new young trainee midwives joining the show:

Here’s a plot recap for the first episode of Season 13, which premiered on BBC One on Sunday 7 January 2024:

Sister Julienne and Shelagh are thrilled that the new midwifery training scheme is underway, which includes pupil midwives Rosalind Clifford, Joyce Highland, Kathy Downes and Norelle Morris.

Once introduced to the routines of a home delivery, Rosalind and Joyce unpack their belongings and settle into Nonnatus House.

Dr Turner expresses his delight about a new scheme which allows GPs to deliver some of their more complex patients in hospital with a consultant on standby.

When Doreen Challis, a young woman with cerebral palsy, is confirmed to be pregnant, her mother Ada is furious, not only at the baby’s father, Graham, but Doreen’s sister Anne, who helped conceal the pregnancy.

As concerns grow for Doreen, a shocking detail from her own birth comes to light.

Rosalind’s first birth on the district is a baptism of fire under Trixie’s tutelage.

All seems to be going well until events take a dramatic turn, putting Trixie, Rosalind, mother and baby in danger.

When Violet regretfully tells Fred and Reggie that the fairground she’s booked for Easter Monday has been cancelled, Reggie comes up with an idea that will bring the community together.

Meanwhile, the Nonnatus team learn of the nurses’ Raise the Roof campaign for better pay and conditions, and there is a clear divide of opinion around the table.

Last year’s season of Call the Midwife is available on DVD on Amazon.