Call The Midwife took an unexpected twist on Sunday night (24 February) when Nurse Valerie’s gran Elsie was revealed to be a back street abortionist.

During season 8, the show has told the stories of various women in 1960s Poplar seeking back street abortions because at that time it was illegal for a doctor to carry out the procedure in England.

Earlier in the series a woman named Jeannie died because of an illegal abortion she had after Dr. Turner told her he couldn’t terminate her pregnancy.

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Call The Midwife season 8 episode 7 reaction
BBC
Valerie and Elsie

On Sunday night, it was revealed that Nurse Valerie’s gran Elsie (played by Ann Mitchell) is in fact a back street abortionist when Val and Trixie had to intervene because a procedure she’d carried out had gone wrong.

Viewers were in total shock.

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Elsie, who was introduced a few weeks ago and has been popular among fans, explained to her devastated granddaughter that she takes only small payments for the procedures to make the women feel they’re in a more professional setting and burned money she earned in front of Val.

She said the reason she carries out the abortions is because she sees women unable to feed their growing families and living in settings of domestic violence and believes she's helping them.

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Despite her grandmother’s emotional plea for her understanding, Valerie was obviously furious and the episode ended with her crying on the street.

Viewers praised actor Jennifer Kirby for her performance.

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A preview for next week showed the midwives discussing the need to report Elsie to the police, so expect lots more emotion from this heartbreaking storyline next week.

Call The Midwife season 8 concludes Sunday at 8pm on BBC One.

Support and guidance related to abortions can be found at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service.