Call the Midwife’s Miss Higgins forced to call in the big guns as Dr Turner’s locum sparks concern

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While Dr. Turner is away in Hong Kong for the Call the Midwife Christmas special – where the team from Nonnatus House travels to Kowloon to help after a local clinic is damaged – we meet Dr. Elise Watkiss, who was reportedly his top pick to fill in while he’s gone.

I’m really glad to hear that Dr. Watkiss, even though she’s new, has a lot of experience as a general practitioner. It’s reassuring to know the practice will be well taken care of while Patrick is away on whatever he needs to do!

Right from their first meeting, it was obvious that Watkiss wasn’t going to be a simple replacement for Dr. Turner. Miss Higgins clearly didn’t warm to her, and it hinted that things weren’t going to be easy.

And that indeed proves to be the case when a woman called Diane goes into labour.

Timothy tells Watkiss the baby is large and positioned sideways with its head towards the mother’s right hip. He also mentions his father always helps with deliveries in these situations.

After checking Diane, it’s clear Watkiss isn’t skilled in using forceps, which Turner prefers for sideways deliveries. Watkiss is only trained in using a vacuum extractor, so her only option is to see if Diane can deliver on her own.

If these efforts aren’t successful, Diane – who is experiencing a lot of unnecessary pain – will be moved to St Cuthbert’s hospital, according to Watkiss.

“Timothy, this is unacceptable,” Rosalind exclaimed, worried both by how much Watkiss didn’t know and by how dangerous their circumstances were becoming.

With the other midwives busy elsewhere in Hong Kong or attending to other patients in Poplar, Sister Monica Joan unexpectedly takes the lead during a difficult labor. She handles the situation remarkably well, successfully maneuvering the baby into the correct position for delivery, though Rosalind ends up covered in amniotic fluid in the process.

Not knowing if the baby was a boy or a girl, Rosalind asked Sister Monica Joan to announce the gender. Luckily, Sister Monica Joan arrived just in time, as there was still a chance of complications, and confirmed that Diane had a baby girl.

That joy is short-lived, however, as attention swiftly turns back to Dr Watkiss.

You know, I was reading this case file, and it’s just wild. Apparently, Miss Higgins was really emphasizing she’s fully trained in obstetrics on her CV. But it turns out, after checking her practice history, she’s only actually delivered two babies in almost five years as a GP, and thankfully, both deliveries were straightforward – no complications at all. It’s a bit of a disconnect between what she presented and her actual experience, honestly.

Timothy explained that although people are trained to handle births, most babies are now expected to be delivered in a hospital setting, which led Miss Higgins to make a decision.

Unwilling to tolerate any further incidents, she brings in the big guns.

She firmly stated this wouldn’t happen again, and immediately called for Nurse Aylward, who, as usual, arrived at just the right moment.

Right after Watkiss tells Miss Higgins that some of the pregnant patients belong at a different hospital, Trixie confidently arrives and quickly takes control. Watkiss, though trying to help, is left speechless and overwhelmed.

As they say, if you want a job done properly…

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Don’t miss the Call the Midwife Christmas special, airing on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 8:30pm on Boxing Day.

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Authors

Abby RobinsonDrama Editor

Abby Robinson is the Drama Editor at TopMob, where she writes about TV dramas and comedies. Before joining TopMob, she was a TV writer for Digital Spy and a content writer for Mumsnet. She holds a degree and a postgraduate diploma in English Studies.

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2025-12-26 01:35