Call the Midwife viewers left reeling following Nurse Val's emotional discovery

The truth was was discovered after Val (played by Jennifer Kirby) received a phone call from Aunt Flo, desperately asking for help in the pub where they live.

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Accompanied by Trixie, the pair found a young girl fighting for her life after an abortion had gone wrong. Flo and Elsie had attempted the then-illegal procedure with a selection of household utensils and dirty towels.

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Elsie had been introduced into the series as a kind-hearted elderly woman who still gave Val ice-cream money. Viewers were left in disbelief at discovering her dark secret.

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“What you did in here was criminal, and I don’t just mean because it was against the law,” a horrified Val told her grandmother.

Elsie tried to justify her actions, explaining, “I’ve seen them cry. I see it all the time.

“The girls who are trying to feed five kids on a can of corned beef. Wives with black eyes covered in panstick, and a husband who drinks a skinful every night… I do it because they ask me to. Beg me to.”

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To prove that the procedure wasn’t about the money, Elsie then set fire to the wads of cash she’d received from offering the backstreet abortions.

While the twist appeared to be a shock to some, writer Heidi Thomas has been expertly building up to this moment since the beginning of the series – Val had to help a young woman pass the remains of a foetus, while Trixie was left devastated after her friend Jeannie died following a botched abortion.

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Nurse Val actress Jennifer Kirby thanked viewers for the "wonderful" comments, adding, "Feeling luckier than ever to be a part of Call the Midwife. Cozy, rose-tinted... me thinks not."

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Call the Midwife continues Sunday at 8pm on BBC1

This article was originally published on 25 February 2019

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