Call the Midwife, April 14 2024, PBS, “Season 13 Episode 5”

On Sunday, April 14, Call the Midwife returns to PBS with an episode set during Violet’s first event as mayor—a community trip to the seaside. However, what begins as a fun outing soon turns into a nightmare for the Turners when their foster child, May, goes missing in the sea.

The episode opens with good news: Trixie has passed her driving test, and Violet has organized a beach trip for the residents of Poplar to celebrate her new role as mayor. Despite his mounting money worries, Matthew is pressured by Trixie to buy a new car.

As the day arrives, everyone piles into decorated vehicles, heading toward the seaside. The weather is typically British—wet and windy—but the event is full of fun and games until a young mother goes into labor. Nurse Crane and Miss Higgins rush her back to Poplar, where she gives birth at the maternity home.

Meanwhile, May and her sister, Angela, sneak off to play with their new lilo, leading to disastrous consequences. May gets into trouble in the sea, and it takes the quick actions of Nurse Joyce and Cyril to save her.

Back at home, May complains of feeling unwell, and her student doctor foster brother, Timothy, suspects water aspiration, a form of partial drowning. An emergency trip to the hospital confirms May’s grave condition, leaving the Turners distraught as they face a crucial wait for the next 24 hours.

Elsewhere in the episode, a young couple, Lindy and Melvin Webster, receive devastating news about their two daughters, who are diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare eye cancer. Despite the grim diagnosis, Lindy steps up as the mother her girls need, and Melvin proposes to her.

The episode also sees Shelagh receiving an unexpected visit from May’s social worker, which puts her on edge.

Call the Midwife Season 13 Episode 5 airs on PBS at 8:00 pm on Sunday, April 14, 2024.