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

Call the Midwife isn't just another period drama that has people looking pretty on screens. Its a BBC drama that takes stories from real lives and real experiences from real people. So this brings us to a question: is it based on a true story? In many ways, yes...but you see, not entirely.

The loved BBC drama is only inspired by the memoirs of Jennifer Worth, a woman who worked as a midwife in East London, 1950s. But while a lot many characters and scenes reflect her life in reality, the show does play around with both fact and fiction.

If you've ever thought about how much reality lives in Nonnatus House, here's a detailed look at what is real and what is not.

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The real people behind Call the Midwife: Jennifer Worth and her world

Call the Midwife fans might be surprised to know that the show's earliest storylines are actually from the real memories of Jennifer Worth - a nurse and midwife who documented her time in Poplar in a series of books.

The lead character Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine) was based on Jennifer. Her voice, carries the show with Vanessa Redgrave narrating episodes as the older Jenny reflecting back on all of those years.

In real life, Jennifer trained in nursing and midwifery before joining the Community of St. John the Divine, a real religious order of Anglican nuns. These women - much like the ones you see on your screen, worked tirelessly in the East End, delivering babies, helping the sick and needy, and offering care to the vulnerable.

Even though Jennifer eventually left midwifery to care for cancer patients and later pursue a musical career, her relationship with the women she worked with stayed long and strong.

Her daughter, Suzannah Hart, once recalled how Jennifer remained close with real life versions of characters like Sister Julienne and Cynthia. Speaking with Radio Times she said:

"Sister Julienne would write letters to me and Juliette, with little stories and beautiful illustrations down the side..."

Jennifer even chose Cynthia who, unlike her fictional version, married a vicar to be her daughter's godmother.

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Fact meets fiction: How based in reality is Call the Midwife?

While the stories and plot-lines of Call the Midwife do stem from real life events, the BBC show sure does take some creative liberties of its own. The original books - Call the Midwife, Shadows of the Workhouse, and Farewell to the East End - gave the writers a foundation to begin with. But as the drama went on, the stories evolved too.

Once the real life material ran out, the creators began stitching in new, historically accurate stories that matched the era.

Still, the setting of Call the Midwife remains grounded with real history. Post-war Poplar, the London neighborhood where Nonnatus House is set, truly did face poverty, housing crises along with limited healthcare.

The birth of the NHS brought hope - and midwives like Jennifer were on the frontlines, helping working class families figure out this new reality. Even the work they did, like making home visits and cycling through the narrow streets, reflects what was happening historically during those years.

That said, not every detail from Call the Midwife is perfectly authentic. Former midwives from that time have pointed out a few differences. Susan Eckersley, who worked in London in the '50s, said that while midwives did travel by bicycle, they were often given taxis for big deliveries due to the amount of equipment they had to carry.

The convent, Nonnatus House, might feel like it's always been there but it's entirely fictional. The early seasons used a real London building for filming, but it was later recreated in a studio set with great care to detail. Meanwhile, the real nuns of St. John the Divine continued their work until they moved to Birmingham in the 1970s.

Sister Margaret-Angela, who joined the order in 1964, once said:

"The show is definitely a realistic look on how life used to be like for us. They have the costumes spot-on."

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Call the Midwife might not be a documentary and the drama might not be entirely real, but regardless of this, the BBC drama is however based on real stories and real emotions involving very real people.

Jennifer Worth's words gave the show a base to start off with, and the creators built on her works with care and proper historical and literary insight.

It's a mix of historical accuracy and storytelling, taking viewers back in time to remind them of the women who cared for London and its forgotten corners. And even now, that spirit of service lives on not just on screen, but in memory.