【纪实】呼叫真正的助产士-一段人生轨迹

I grew up on stories of midwifery in the East End of London. It was probably one of the main reasons I became a midwife and went to the UK to undertake my midwifery training. My mum was a midwife in the East End of London in the 1950s. When the TV series Call the Midwife came out my mum had already died and I felt very sad not to be able to share it with her. My mum’s best friend, Fiona Haines (my youngest oldest friend I call her) was able to share it with me recently when I was in the UK in June 2014. I also had the chance to talk to Valeria Brigden, another friend of Fiona and my mum who worked in the East End in the mid 1950s, and Sister Christina who was one of the nuns working during this period. Here is a story of a trip down memory lane with the real midwives from the East End of London.
我在助产士的故事发生的地方，伦敦东区长大，这可能是我成为了一名助产士并去接受助产士训练的主要原因之一。我妈妈是五十年代东区的助产士，当《呼叫助产士》播出时，她已去世，我无法和她一起收看，这让我很难过。2014年6月，我正在英国，我母亲的挚友Fiona Haines（我称她为我最年轻的老朋友）和我看了这部剧，我还和Valeria Brigden，Fiona和我妈妈在五十年代中期伦敦东区

做助产士时认识的朋友，和那时在那里工作的Christina修女聊天。这是一段真实的东区助产士的人生旅程。
Picture 1
Left to right: Sister Christina, Fiona Haines, Valeria Brigden (2014) who all worked in the East End of London in the 1950s.
从左至右：Christina修女，Fiona Haines，Valeria Brigden ，她们五十年代在东区工作。

Picture 2
My mum second left and Fiona third left when working in the East End of London.
左二是我妈妈，左三是Fiona

Arriving at St Frideswide’s Mission House in 1959 - It was 1959 and my mum, her best friend Fiona and my grandfather stood on the steps of the imposing St Frideswide’s Mission House in Lodore Street in the East End of London. Knocking on the large wooden door of the 1890’s red brick building must have created some anxiety. Fiona remembers the door being opened by Jennifer Worth (then Jenny Lee who wrote the book Call the Midwife).
St Frideswide’s Mission House位于伦敦东区的Lodore街，1959年我妈妈和她的好友Fiona，我的外祖父来到这里，站在这栋雄伟建筑的台阶上。这栋楼是19世纪90年代建成的红砖楼，敲响它巨大的木头门一定会让人产生某种庄严之感。Fiona还记得是Jennifer Worth（也就是Jenny Lee，《呼叫助产士》的作者）开的门。

Jennifer looked down her nose over a pair of glasses and said “I will let the sister superior know you are here.” “I was terrified,” says Fiona, “I thought what on earth have I got myself into.” Apparently my mum was doing a good job faking calmness, a characteristic that came to define her.
Jennifer透过夹在鼻尖的眼睛看着她们说道：“我会告诉高级修女你们已经到了的。”“我有些害怕，”Fiona说，“我不知道自己将要面对的是什么。”我妈妈似乎在强作镇定，她就是这样的性格。

The real Nonnatus House (St Frideswide’s Mission House) was remembered as being cold, with the kitchen being the warmest place where everyone naturally congregated. The other popular place was the roof. When the weather was warmer the students and nuns would sew and knit on the roof. Valeria remembers asking Sister Monica to show her how to crochet a neckline for a knitted vest. “I’ll teach you,” said Sister Monica reaching for the knitting. Almost immediately she handed it back and said, “On second thoughts you can ask for help each time and that way you will remain humble.” I love the picture of my mum knitting on the roof, looking happy, mainly because as a child I remember it being her least favourite thing.
记忆中真实的Nonnatus House（即St Frideswide’s Mission House）十分寒冷，最暖和的就是厨房，所以大家都挤在那里。另一个受人欢迎的地方就是屋顶，等天气转暖，新手就会和修女一起在屋顶上坐针线活。Valeria记得她向Monica修女请教如何给针织背心钩领口，“我来教你，”Monica修女接过针线。几乎与此同时，她就又递了过来，“当你每次寻求帮助时要三思，这样才能保持谦虚。”我很喜欢我妈妈在屋顶上做针线的那张照片，她看起来很开心，可能是因为自儿时起，我就记得她最不喜欢的事就是做针线活了。

Fiona describes tiny flats where the bath was in the kitchen. Wood was stored in the bath and a wooden top covered the bath, turning it into a table used for meals. Children often slept, one at either end of the bed, or on the floor. It appears washing was not a frequent past time during this era.
Fiona说在小小的公寓里，浴盆被放在了厨房里，木材放在浴盆里，木制的盖子盖住浴盆以当作桌子用来吃饭。孩子们要么睡在床的一边，要么在地板上。看起来在过去很长时间里这里都没有做过清洁了。

Picture 5
Jennifer Worth is the woman knitting on the left.
左边那个织东西的女人是Jennifer Worth

When you ask them if the film captured the period, they all agree it has. Women did arrive at the baby clinic in slippers and a scarf covering the rollers in their hair. Children were always outside and men would sit and play dominoes on the doorsteps. When they were going to a birth the children always knew where it was happening and would guide the midwives if this were needed. Neighbours would come over with blankets or hot water when someone was in labour. Birth was a very public, yet also private event. Fathers did not go anywhere near their wives when this was happening and the midwives would have been horrified had they done so. Even nearly a decade after this time my father was not allowed into my birth but remembers vividly the joy of being there for my brother’s birth.
当你问起这部剧是否真实反映了那个年代，他们都很赞同。妇女们会穿着拖鞋，用围巾裹着卷发来诊所。孩子们总是呆在外面，男人们会坐在台阶上玩多米诺骨牌。当她们即将分娩时，孩子们都知道该怎么做，必要时会带着助产士过来，邻居会拿来毯子，端来热水。分娩是一件公开的事，也是一件私密的事。父亲在生产时不能和妻子呆在一起，否则会让助产士很惊慌，即使在十年后，我父亲依旧不能见证我的出生，不过我们记得很清楚，等生我弟弟就可以一同分享孩子出生时的快乐了。

Fiona remembers the fierce midwifery tutors they had and the most fierce was Sister Madeline. The student midwives would have to cycle under the River Thames to attend tutorials. Sister Madeline had a fat cat who seemed to shake with rage and was fierce like its owner. Fiona remembers her barking at the students, “What is the most important thing a new baby needs?” Usually cleanliness was given as the answer, upon which she would bark, “Rubbish, a baby cannot survive without warmth.” While the fierce Sister Madeline inspired terror in her students, once Fiona witnessed her laughing so much she was wiping away tears, but in doing so she had smeared the red pen she was using to mark students’ papers, all over her face. They never found out what was so funny but it was the answer someone had given in an exam paper to a question regarding what a midwife might find after a baby had been born at a railway station. Wouldn’t we love to know what it was? Who is Chummy?
Fiona还记得脾气暴躁的助产导师们，其中最暴躁的是Madeline修女。学习助产的学生们要穿过泰晤士河参加个别辅导。Madeline修女有一只肥猫，总是愤怒地颤抖，就像它的主人一样暴躁。Fiona记得修女冲着她的学生们大吼“新生儿最需要什么？”通常下面会说清洁，“胡说，新生儿要存活下来必须要保暖”。虽然暴躁的Madeline修女会吓唬学生，但Fiona有一次看到她笑得眼泪都流出来了，她的脸上沾上了给学生判作业时用的红笔水。他们不知道是什么这样好笑，但这是有个人考试时写下的答案，考虑到一个助产士在火车站发现了一个新生儿的话。我们难道不想知道那是什么吗？谁是Chummy？

There is much debate about who Chummy is and meeting Sister Christina confirmed for me what I had always suspected, that it could be my friend Fiona. At 5 feet 11 inches, born in India and rather poshly spoken, the resemblance to Chummy is uncanny. Fiona points out however, that she could ride a bike when she arrived, though she had to be given a ‘sit up and beg’ bike which was extricated from the convent cellar by the nuns to fit her very long legs. As a child I was convinced that Fiona’s legs seemed to go on forever. The bike was called Persephone as it came from the underworld.
关于谁是Chummy有很多争论，但见到Christina修女之后证实了我一直以来的推测，她可能是我的朋友Fiona，她有五英尺十一英寸高，生于印度，谈吐优雅，她和Chummy间的相似点令人惊异。不过Fiona说她来的时候会骑车了，不过为了方便她的长腿，修女们从修道院的地窖里找出一辆自行车。我小时候一直坚信Fiona的腿会一直不断地变长。那辆自行车被称为帕尔塞福涅（冥后），因为它来自地狱（因为是从修道院的地下室里找的～）

Pictures 6 & 7
Fiona on Persephone which was the only bike that would fit her long legs.
Fiona骑在帕尔塞福涅上，只有这辆车适合她的长腿。