“Call The Midwife” Season 12 Episode 4 Recap: Quarantines and Bureaucracy

Each season, GBH Drama gears up to bring you coverage of the latest and greatest in British drama. This month we return to Poplar for the twelfth season of Call the midwife. With complex medical cases, a heartwarming found family, and more births and deaths than we can count, this series is sure to make you laugh and cry (probably more of the latter, if we’re being honest). GBH Drama Contributor Amanda-Rae Prescott Is Here To Recap The Magic As It Happens.

This week on Call the midwife, Nonnatus House must quickly contain a contagious bacterial infection and also contain the scope of the Board of Health in their affairs. All this activity makes it a less than fun visiting house for Timothy and Reggie. Let’s discuss what’s going on.

Home from school
Timothy is back in Poplar after becoming the salutatorian for his year in college. We love to see it! Reggie is also back for a visit. Of course, the Turners and Buckles put the youngsters to work. Timothy hands out tea to maternity patients and locums at Miss Higgins’ reception. Reggie cleans the comics and does odd jobs around the store.

Reggie, however, doesn’t seem entirely thrilled to be home. First, he cancels a boys’ night out with Cyril and Fred at the dominoes table. We see a lock of her hair fall. He visits his mother’s grave because he thinks he may also be dying; she died after a long period of fatigue. Violet doesn’t realize his behavior means something may be medically wrong, so she calls Reggie lazy within earshot. He leaves disappointed. Cyril convinces him to let Dr. Turner examine him. What will be the result?

Contagion
Nancy is entrusted to Mrs. Khatri who has two little girls and is expecting a third baby. She is clearly going into labor, so Nancy walks her back to the maternity ward. Trixie takes Mrs. Khatri away as her waters break. Her baby girl is born very soon and they joke about the baby’s impatience. Unfortunately, Mrs. Khatri still experiences pain after giving birth. Trixie examines and realizes there is a second heartbeat. She calls Shelagh to help her since the second baby is in a breech position. Mrs Khatri was not expecting twins but she is happy to welcome a second baby girl. Her husband, however, is struggling to come up with names as he thought the baby was going to be a boy. Tension between the Khatris grows.

Meanwhile, at the maternity ward, Ms Perreira and Ms Jameson also gave birth. Mrs Wrigleys children stop by to visit their new baby brother. Shortly after the visit, Khatri Baby B develops a low temperature, diarrhea and signs of dehydration. One by one, all the mothers and babies in the maternity ward fall ill. Dr. Turner moves quickly to close the maternity ward and clinic to strangers. Trixie, Timothy and Shelagh are now locked up until the infection runs its course. Matthew delivers medical supplies from a safe distance. Sister Monica Joan volunteers to go to the maternity ward despite the risk of catching the disease. It’s a good thing Sister Monica Joan is here, as she sees that Shelagh is fighting the infection. Shelagh only comes home for her and all the Turner children to end up sick. What causes this disease?

Very slow progress
Alongside the mysterious infection at the maternity ward, Mrs. Lucas is expecting her first child. She is ready to embrace modern methods and that includes giving birth at St. Cuthberts. Phyllis is assigned to her case, but Mrs. Lucas doubts Phyllis due to her age. Mrs. Lucas’ first child was born a month early, so she hopes this baby will arrive soon because she is packing for the move. This baby, unfortunately, is on another schedule.

Bureaucratic hypocrisy
Phyllis, Dr. Turner and Shelagh attend a demonstration of a new birthing technology: the Vacuum Cup. The device looks like a portable aspirator but is designed to replace forceps in the delivery room. Phyllis asks the demo manager, Mr. Walsh, if the device has been tested for home births. He says these are very old fashioned and Phyllis is a bit snipping with him back. As it is, Mrs. Lucas doubts her skills due to her age, and she doesn’t need another doubter. He ends up wondering why she works past retirement age.

Mr. Walsh is unfortunately in a position to get Phyllis in trouble, as he sits on the London Board of Medicine. He sends a letter later to tell her that the council will reevaluate her working capacity. She feels like she will be deprived if she is forced to retire. Another health board member, Dr. Threapwood, bursts into Nonnatus House to demand answers about how Dr. Turner handled the sicknesses of the maternity ward. He believes that Dr. Turner acted independently of the Council, while Dr. Turner argues that the situation could not wait for bureaucracy.

Sister Monica Joan also insists on accompanying Phyllis at least to the meeting door. At the meeting, Walsh and the other Nigels bring up the fact that Phyllis hasn’t taken any refresher training. Phyllis maintains that she is still competent enough to continue working after her retirement. Sister Monica Joan interrupts the proceedings to argue that not only is she working well after her retirement because of her vows, but also that the entire board of health is older than Phyllis. This sick burn stuns the Nigels by admitting that Phyllis can still work as a nurse. She agrees to take the mandatory refresher training because improvement is always a good thing.

fear of change
Phyllis pays a return visit to Mrs. Lucas, who replies that the midwife came to laugh at her. It turns out the baby is a month late and Mrs. Lucas still hasn’t fully moved out. Phyllis brought her iron pills, not a mean attitude. Later, the baby finally shows signs of movement and Phyllis is ready to help. Mrs. Lucas realizes that a hospital birth is not planned. Mr. Lucas is impatient about the birthing process and Phyllis tells him to keep packing the glassware while she goes through labor. The baby’s shoulder ends up catching on Mrs. Lucas’ pelvic bone. Phyllis calls the ambulance and tells Mrs. Lucas not to push, but she doesn’t listen. Phyllis’ hand is injured as she tries to manually adjust the baby. Finally, a very big baby boy was born but he takes a long time to cry. Mrs. Lucas always ends up going to the hospital because she bleeds too much. She finally apologizes to Phyllis because she was depending on Phyllis to help her give birth.

Really, really, tired
As promised, Cyril accompanies Reggie on his date. Dr. Turner asks Reggie several questions about how he feels. He describes fatigue, tingling in his hands and falling hair. Dr. Turner recommends a blood test after the basic physical exam, and he explains that Reggies’ symptoms as well as the blood test confirm that he has hypothyroidism, which means an underactive thyroid. These are not the same symptoms as hyperthyroidism which is more common. He explains that some people with Down syndrome also have hypothyroidism. There is no cure for hypothyroidism, but all Reggie needs to feel better is take 1 pill a day for life. Violet apologizes after the diagnosis because she realized she knew something was wrong but she jumped to the wrong conclusion.

Contagion, part two
Khatri Baby B continues to have diarrhea and lose weight. Sister Monica Joan notices that she is turning blue, which means they need to call the ambulance. Mr. Khatri arrives at the maternity ward just as she is being loaded into the ambulance. His tone is different, realizing that his wife and children are in mortal danger. Quarantine becomes a constraint for everyone, both patients and staff. We see Trixie calling Matthew for support. He reminds her that their honeymoon in November will be epic.

Dr. Turner performs lab tests and concludes that the gastroenteritis outbreak was caused by an E. coli infection. Mrs Wrigley or her family were behind the outbreak, it turns out they were all sick. Mr. Khatri visits Baby B in the hospital and tells Mrs. Khatri through the window that she opened her eyes to look at him. He tells her he loves the baby! Oh !

Everyone survives the outbreak of E. coli, even Baby B. The mothers are reunited with their families and the maternity ward and the clinic are completely disinfected. Khatri Baby B and Baby A are called Asha and Shakura, which means hope and gratitude. The young Turners splash around in the small paddling pool while Timothy tries to get a tan. Trixie reunites with Matthew and Jonty who she clearly missed. Even Reggie is back to his usual banter with Cyril and Fred.

The only one unhappy with the situation is Mr. Threapwood. What does the Board of Health have in store for Nonnatus House? Well find out next week on Call the midwife.