‘Call the Midwife’s Molly Vevers Reveals Worst Part of Those Realistic Birth Scenes

For 15 seasons, PBS’s Call the Midwife has delivered its fair share of poignant stories about the good people of the working-class neighborhood of Poplar in London’s East End. Their tales of love, loss, and endurance, told both from the patients’ point of view and from that of the midwives and caregivers who serve them, have been one of the show’s greatest strengths, turning everyday struggles into deeply moving portraits of community and compassion.

For years, the midwives and Anglican nuns of Nonnatus House have cared for the sick, supported their community, and guided countless mothers through childbirth, bringing forth generations of babies into the world. As a viewer, the realistic birthing scenes create some of the series’ most memorable moments, leading to heartfelt triumphs, harrowing complications, or scenes of profound joy as new life enters the world. But behind the scenes, it can be a little bit more complicated, and a wee bit unpleasant at times.

TV Insider talked to actress Molly Vevers, who plays Sister Catherine on the series, and she shared her insights on the birthing scenes when the conversation turned to production challenges.

“Another challenge for me are those kinds of very technical birth scenes, or the sort of medical scenes, which are obviously quite a lot of the scenes, but I’m a very squeamish person,” said Vevers. “I’m not great with that stuff. So sometimes I have to really focus my mind out of the fact that there’s fake blood over there, or a fake placenta sort of slobbering about…so that can be challenging.”

When asked about filming with the “babies,” Vevers explained the process in detail, including some of the unexpected challenges.

“We basically film as much as we can without real babies. So, certain angles where you can get away with it, and then we’ll bring the real babies in for the final few shots,” explained the actress. “But even with the dummy babies, all of that stuff is really technical, because we have to cover them with fake blood. So, for example, in one episode with the really premature baby, it was like, covered in baby goo, and it just kept slipping up my hand!”

“They were like, ‘Action!’ And I was like, ‘Oh, lost it.’ It just kept sliding! So eventually I had to sort of stick it to my hand so it wouldn’t move,” laughed Vevers. “This was the fake baby, not the real baby. I wasn’t dropping a real baby.”

“I didn’t think about that stuff either when I got the job. I was just excited,” recalled the actress. “And then, I was like, ‘Oh no. I just remembered, I hate blood.’”

Call the Midwife, Season 15, Sunday, March 22, 2026, at 8/7c on PBS, PBS.org, and the PBS app