Heartwarming / Call the Midwife

• Chummy's introduction episode features a handful of scenes involving Chummy's attempts to ride a bike, some of which involve one of the local boys poking fun at her attempts to do so. Later on in the episode, after the breech delivery, it's implied that she bought him a bicycle and as a result, he became her guardian and helped her with her difficulties on a bicycle. The ending of the episode closes on the two of them riding together through the streets as Chummy makes her rounds.
  • Brenda McEntee's story in the same episode. She has a pelvic deformity that caused her four previous pregnancies to end in stillbirth. Then she unexpectedly became pregnant again in her 40s. She's very frightened of having another stillborn baby even though Patrick and Chummy assure her that she can have a C-section this time to prevent complications. The last scene reveals that she did have a C-section and her daughter was born healthy. She names the baby Grace Miracle.
• 1x02 features Jenny befriending Mary, a young girl who'd been taken advantage of and was about to have a baby. Throughout the entire episode, the midwives are shown to have nothing but the utmost compassion and respect for her, even the lay ones. This comes to a head after the baby is taken away and Jenny comforts her.
• In 1x03, when Winnie gives birth, it's immediately obvious that her husband Ted is not the father of her son. The midwives, Dr. Turner and Winnie herself are naturally expecting (and dreading) that Ted will be furious. However, much to their astonishment and joy, Ted simply has a moment of shocked realization before immediately accepting the baby and declaring the child his son. Winnie, out of guilt and appreciation for his love, decides to let him name the baby. He gives the boy a personal family name. Afterward, he proves to be a loving and devoted parent, even bringing the baby into the clinic on his own for a simple cough to make sure he's well-cared for.
  Ted: I don't reckon to know much about babies, but I can see how this is the most beautiful baby in the world.
• What has been dubbed simply "The Road Scene" in episode 2x08. Dr Turner finds now ex-Sister Bernadette on the side of the road after she has been released from the sanatorium and left the Order. Since she's no longer a nun, they are now free to act on their long-suppressed feelings for each other. And they do. Magnificently. Keep in mind, the dialogue below is said during a Held Gaze after he's wrapped her up in his coat and is laden with months of unspoken love between them.
  Dr Turner: What if it had started raining? What if you'd got lost?
  Sister Bernadette: I was lost. I got the wrong bus.
  Dr Turner: I was on the right road.
  Sister Bernadette: Yes. [deep breath] I know you so little but I couldn't be more certain.
  Dr Turner: I am completely certain. And I don't even know your name!
  Sister Bernadette: [beaming from ear to ear] Shelagh.
  Dr Turner: [tenderly] Patrick.
  Sister Bernadette: There. We've made a start.
• In episode 2x05, Nora, the older woman who got pregnant after she'd already had eight children, survives falling into a coma and finally gets to move her family into a bigger home. And it's out in the country! It's at first implied that she'd died, but it turns out to be a bait-and-switch and we see her strolling through a field with her family.
• After Chummy helps Fred's daughter Dolly give birth to her second-born, Fred has a moment where he explains to her about how he grew up so poor that he didn't own shoes. He promised that his own children would grow up with shoes, hot dinners, and a happy home. "And I managed all three." He also states that his biggest regret was not being there for his family during the London Blitz and that being a good parent is all about being there for them. Chummy is touched by his words so much that she names her baby boy after him.
• Chummy and Peter's relationship, full-stop.
• Six words: "Please will you marry my dad?"
  • And then the Call-Back in season 6 "Please will you be my dad?" Keep in mind, Shelagh was told that due to her scarred reproductive organs, pregnancy would likely never happen for her and she was devastated at never having her own child. But, after giving up all hope of conceiving, Shelagh is miraculously pregnant years later. She and Patrick finally get to have their own child after all hope seemed lost! His overjoyed face and embrace of Shelagh sells it.
• In the second season finale, Jimmy tells Jenny about his baby daughter, and how even though it's more exhausting than he expected to care for her, he loves her very much. There's also his obvious desire to see that Jenny is happy and not pining away for him, even though he already confessed his love to her earlier.
• The Reverend Appleby-Thornton's explanation for his constant chatter, which is also something of a Tear Jerker:
  It was in the silences at the dinner table that I felt my parents' hatred for each other. So I became accustomed to filling them. [...] I talk so I won't know what the silence holds.
• The relationship between Sister Bernadette and Sister Julienne is absolutely full of them.
  • When young Timmy Turner is struck down with polio, Shelagh is not allowed to stay with him at the hospital because she hasn't yet married his father and she's not his biological mother. Also, she's been avoiding all of Nonnatus because she's afraid of what they'll think of her for leaving the Order, but in that moment of crisis she goes back to the place that has always been her sanctuary, joining the nuns' plainsong during their evening service and quietly slipping her hand into Sister Julienne's as she joins them in song. Later, as Julienne is tenderly tucking her into her makeshift cot:
    Julienne: Did you believe for one moment that we wouldn't want you here tonight? That we wouldn't welcome you with open arms?
    Shelagh: I turned my back on you, Sister. I walked away. I became someone else.
    Julienne: No, you didn't, Shelagh. You found joy — and I've never questioned it.
    Shelagh: [brokenly] But there's no joy now.
    Julienne: But there is love — and it's Christmas. Have courage.
    [Julienne holds Shelagh as she cries]
  • Julienne's words when she asks Julienne to give her away at her wedding:
    Shelagh: You should be giving me away. You should be walking with me.
    Julienne: [visibly struggling not to cry] You belong to no one but yourself — and you know exactly where you're going.
  • When Shelagh walks down the aisle to marry Dr Turner, Julienne is sitting in the front row of the left side of the church, in the seat closest to the centre aisle — the place traditionally reserved for the mother of the bride.
  • The 2014 Christmas special reveals the Turners' adopted daughter's full name: Angela Julienne Turner.
  • In episode 4x02, Sister Julienne is confronted with the memory of the potential love match she turned away from in order to follow her calling as a nun — an almost eerie mirror to Shelagh, who left the Order to follow her calling as a wife and mother. Deeply shaken and struggling with her own feelings, she can go to only one person. This relationship is definitely not one-sided.
    Julienne: [to Shelagh] Who could I turn to, if not you? Who would console me, if not you?
  • When Shelagh realizes that she is, against all odds, expecting a baby, the first person she tells? None other than Sister Julienne, who reacts with breathless, incredulous joy as a tearful Shelagh finally allows herself to believe her dream of (natural) motherhood has come true.
  • Sister Julienne is the one to deliver Shelagh's baby. Think about that for a minute. But of course, how could it be anyone else?
  • In the 2018 Christmas special, the look of utter love and relief on Julienne's face when Shelagh arrives at the Mother House in Chichester to help her sort out the chaotic administrative office. Julienne isn't just relieved for the help; she is also beyond relieved and overjoyed to have her dearest friend and confidante by her side as she faces the prospect of potentially being voted in as Mother Superior of the Order, and Shelagh instantly knows that Julienne is in desperate need of not just her help, but her support.
• After obtaining a hearing aid for Crazy Cat Lady Mrs. Jenkins in the first Christmas special, Dr Turner whispers "Merry Christmas" in her ear. The look of utter wonder on her face, when she probably has been going deaf for several years, is wonderful.
• The end of episode 2x2, when Peter gathers all the Cub Scouts, midwives, and Sisters to serenade Chummy with their song "You Are My Special Angel" before they leave for Sierra Leone, where Chummy spends six months as a missionary.
• Douglas Roberts, in season 2, deciding that he was going to keep his son (who was born with spina bifida) instead of giving him up to a special home. He convinces his wife to agree with him by making her realize how much she loves their baby by acting as though they're going to immediately send him off and begins calling their baby "it" and acts cold about it. Thus, as planned and predicated, she snaps out of her depressed mental state caused by their son's condition. She tells him not to call their son an "it", demands how dare he supposedly think of giving him away, and declares they're keeping him. He smiles in joy, knowing they were going to finally be okay.
  • Also, her picking up her son after refusing to do so the whole episode.
    Ruby Roberts: He's not an it, he's a baby. He's my baby boy.
• A minor one from Sister Evangelina in 2x08. Sister Bernadette is considering leaving the Order and has thus asked for her worldly possessions to be sent to her. When gathering her things, Sister Evangelina— who does not wish her sister to leave— frets that all of her clothes are 10 years old, and she'll look out of date and attract attention. Even if Bernadette will no longer be her sister, she wants no unhappiness to befall her, even something as frivolous as outdated clothes.
• In series 4, Patrick Turner battles a rather serious case of recurring PTSD brought on by his service in World War II — PTSD which had, in the past, sent him into a full-fledged breakdown that put him in a mental hospital. When he finally recovers from his depression, he admits to his wife Shelagh that he had been terrified he was going to have a second relapse. Shelagh assures him that they're not at war any more, and it won't happen again. Patrick's response?
  Patrick: I know. Because I have you.
• In 4x05, Dr Turner fails to diagnose a baby with osteogenesis imperfecta, an admittedly rare condition, and thus the child is taken from his parents for fear of abuse. After realizing and correcting the true problem, Dr Turner takes ill and believes himself to be a bad doctor. As he stays at home and mentally recovers, the community of Poplar begin sending him an abundance of gifts in flowers, cards and baked goods. They remind him that he has done plenty of good things for them over the years and that his one mistake doesn't undo any of his past success in saving and helping people. Thus, despite his one mistake, he is still a good doctor who will always be needed.
• From the 2015 Christmas Special, Iris and her husband in the hospital as Iris gives birth to their very unexpected second child, 22 years after they lost their first. The emotion that Iris's actress puts into her realization - the fear, the hope - and then her husband's hand shaking too much to even hold a cigarette...and then the baby arrives.
• In 5X01, the thalidomide story line is introduced in the form of a newborn born with deformed limbs, who isn't expected to make it through the night. Dr. Turner sends Shelagh (who helped deliver the baby) home, warning her not to get overly involved because it's not going to end well. He stays in the office overnight, waiting for the inevitable decline in vital signs. The baby begins to cry and Dr. Turner walks with her, trying to provide comfort in her last hours. When he realizes she's hungry, a sign that she isn't declining at all, his attitude totally changes. Shelagh finds them in the morning, two bottles of formula down and Patrick warmly reading the baby articles from The Lancet.
• When Sister Monica Joan runs off to her childhood home, she finds a group of young squatters living there. When the other nuns track her down, they're let in by one of these young people and find they brought this sick, confused, complete stranger into the house and have done their best to look after her themselves.
• A community-wide one from 5x08 after Sister Evangelina's death. The entire community of Poplar comes together, with every business offering top-shelf services to Nonnatus, free of charge, as she was one of them as much as a member of Nonnatus, and they want to pay her back for her services to them.
• Basically everything involving Barbara's wedding in season 6:
  • Choosing Phyllis as her bridesmaid, especially since Phyllis was feeling passed over since Shelagh chose Sister Julienne to deliver her baby.
  • Getting a deal on all the flowers because she had delivered the florist's youngest child in a breech delivery.
  • Her lovely conversation with her father about marriage.
  • The nuns and midwives pooling their resources to buy her a wedding dress instead of having her make her own or borrow from her sister.
  • Tom's Grand Romantic Gesture of the carousel
  • Patsy finally returning from Hong Kong and giving Delia a Big Damn Kiss (the first time they've kissed on screen in three series together as a couple)
• In 7x01 when Lucille arrives unwell, without luggage and a scraped knee, the midwives and nuns welcome her with open arms and take care of her when she faints from an undiagnosed bladder infection.
• The friendship between Phyllis and Barbara in general, but with some moments standing out more than others.
  • The very first episode Phyllis appears in, when she comes to assist at a delivery of undiagnosed twins where the first was stillborn. The first thing she does when arriving is not tending to the mother (who had Patsy with her) but to comfort Barbara in her distraught state.
  • As mentioned above, Barbara asking Phyllis to be her maid of honour.
  • What seems like a minor detail, but an early-season five episode has Barbara calling Phyllis by her first name - something which Phyllis did not permit in the previous season, with the exception of the night they go square dancing. Barbara being allowed to call her by her first name shows how much closer they have grown.
  • After the death of Sister Evangelina all the midwives are seen sitting together on the staircase, crying. Phyllis has her arm around Barbara, who cries on her shoulder.
  • Their reunion in late season seven.
  • When Barbara passes away Phyllis is with her, together with Barbara's husband Tom. When Barbara is admitted to hospital, Phyllis tries to comfort him by saying: "She's a fighter, our Barbara is."
    • During that whole episode, several characters show a great deal of sympathy towards Phyllis, knowing how worried she is for her friend. And Tom has this to say: "I know how much you love her... and how much she loves you."
    • The mere fact that when Tom learns that Barbara is going to die he calls Nonnatus House and asks Valerie to send Phyllis to the hospital right away. His wife is going to die, but rather than be alone with her at that time he makes sure that his wife's best friend is also there.
• When the new uniforms arrive in season five the young nurses are all excited to try them on, but keep their poker faces on while they wait for Phyllis to arrive and get hers. Phyllis initially appears stern about the whole thing, then breaks into a smile and declares she'll race them to go try them on - and then takes off running, the others in pursuit.
• There's a season five episode where Phyllis sits with Patsy and Trixie and listen to an LP with Spanish love songs, and the three of them bond. It's a very sweet scene, especially when Trixie says that she hopes the younger people attending Phyllis' Spanish class know that she has the two of them on her side, if any of them should give her grief over the age gap.
• In the 2016 Christmas Special, after Trixie has had to perform a caesarion section with only local anaesthetic and very poor lighting, she walks outside and begins to break down after all the adrenaline has left her body. Barbara then comes out and sits with her, absolutely bursting with pride and telling her so. She then holds Trixie as she cries.
• Trixie pointing out to Tom that Barbara is the woman he ought to spend the rest of his life with, but to not propose to her with the same ring as he gave to Trixie herself. Not because she has a problem with the thought of someone else being proposed to with "her" ring, but because Barbara has had so many hand-me-downs in her life and she deserves something brand new and her own.
  • When Tom does propose to Barbara later that same episode he doesn't have a ring, so he makes one from a plate of grass. Later on he buys her a real ring, but she keeps and cherishes the grass ring he proposed with.
• In 7x08, Olive coming to accept her father's long time friend is actually his partner, and choosing to love her Uncle Donald, dementia and all.
  Olive: [To her newborn son] I can't give you much. But I can show you what a family looks like. [Looks at her father and uncle]
• The Christmas Miracle in 2017's Christmas Special, when the baby thought to be stillborn suddenly starts crying from inside Nurse Dyer's bag. The look of dawning hope and relief on Valerie's face is indescribable.
  • The mother Linda's boyfriend, Selwyn. Although aware he is not the baby's blood father from the start, he loves Linda, and accepts the baby as his own.
• Everything about the ballroom of hope. May is returned to the Turners, Reggie gets to see his girlfriend, and sickly Julie gets to dance under the mirror ball.
• After watching The Sound of Music in theatres, Patrick and Shelagh discuss the way the story of the film resonates with the path their own lives have followed. One quote from Patrick is particularly poignant:
  Patrick: I remember when you used to sing in chapel. There was one time I'll never forget.... I'd had a particularly rotten day — a stillbirth in Ontario Buildings. I had to return some paperwork to Nonnatus House, and when I was leaving I heard Compline. I followed the sound, found myself outside the chapel, listening through the open door. [There was] such comfort in the beauty of it — and your voice touched my soul. It was like everyone else's melted away and it was just you.
• The general acceptance of single mothers in a time where they faced much stigma. While the sisters are very much God Before Dogma, there's a general understanding shown that they are simply women raising their children. Some prime examples are:
  • Nadine, a stripper who buys Valerie's aunts' dancing school in order to provide for her daughter. Not only does the aunt sell her the school, but all indications are that it thrives, with her classes continue to be mentioned in the background and the Turners continuing to send their daughters there; with no qualms about her being an unmarried mother and former occupation.
  • Elaine Pilkington, who deliberately gets pregnant after being forced to give up her previous child for adoption. Lucille is judgmental, but comes to understand that this is the easier way for her, and helps her sign up for assistance, vets potential landladies, and posts one of her advertisements for typing work.
  • Stella Crangle, who gives birth in prison. Illiterate due to her orphanage being repeatedly bombed during the war, she is hell-bent to improve herself and her life. Sister Julienne helps get her a job and childcare, recognizing she's been dealt a bad hand but is refusing to let it get her down.
• Nancy's daughter, Colette, has only ever known Nancy as her older sister, as she was the result of a Teenage Pregnancy. At the end of season 10, Nancy is finally able to tell her the truth, which she takes well. An early episode of season 11 sees Nancy and Colette playing with a ball near Nonnatus House. Nancy ends up throwing it out of reach by accident, which Colette scolds with a playful "Mummy!" before going to retrieve it. It's the first time Colette has called Nancy anything but her first name, and Nancy stops dead in her tracks with the most utterly pleased and delighted expression.
• Fred buying Bernard the homeless drunk a pack of cigarettes and a pop from his wife's store, while gently chiding both Nancy and Violet for being judgemental of how Bernard is now. Notably both seem to take it to heart, with Nancy reaching out to Bernard later and Violet trying to use her position on the council to find a better solution to the homelessness problem than merely getting the police to drive them off.
• Trixie accidentally letting her feelings for Matthew slip during a particularly emotional discussion after a heartbreaking case, and Matthew's gentle understanding when it's obvious that she wasn't quite ready to tell him yet.
  Trixie: ...I didn't know I loved you then. [her eyes widen]
  Matthew: [understanding] I won't say 'Do you love me now?' because tonight I don't need you to answer. But I am going to say that I love you, because tonight I need you to know.
• In the aftermath of Matthew's father's death, Trixie gently offers to postpone their wedding ceremony until after things have settled down a bit, well aware of just how much he has to deal with. Matthew replies — with somewhat uncharacteristic vehemence — that the thought of marrying her is the only thing keeping him going, and he wants it to happen just as soon as possible.
• Cyril's reunion with Sister Monica Joan upon his return from Jamaica in 12x07. She is seriously ill with hepatitis, disoriented and upset, but she cries with joy at seeing Cyril.