The show is inspired by Jennifer Worth who worked as a midwife in London’s Poplar from the 1950s to 60s, along with the sister of Saint John the Divine.
Although Call the Midwife does often show its inspiration, the midwife home of Nonnatus Hous is not actually real.
The show’s creators were inspired by the sisters and Worth’s real home where they lived and worked, which was St Frideswide’s Mission House in Lodore Street and now fans can visit the house.
24 hours till the premiere of Call the Midwife Series 14!!
Plans are being made in Poplar… ❤️#CallTheMidwife. The new series. Tomorrow at 8pm on BBC1 xx pic.twitter.com/UFlN4WMDx4
— Call the Midwife (@CallTheMidwife1) January 4, 2025
The real story of Call the Midwife’s Nonnatus House
The Order of Sisters was established back in 1848 near Euston in Fitzroy Square where they trained as nurses and midwives.
Some of the nurses would be sent off to work in Crimea during the war alongside Florence Nightingale as well as to Germany.
Later, in the 1880s, the nuns were invited to Poplar by the Church of All Saints Poplar, seeing them move and begin work in the East End community.
During the 1950s and 60s, the sisters and midwives became a key part of the community as areas continued to recover from the war.
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Locals to Poplar shared that Call the Midwife does show how fond the residents were of the sisters and nurses, sharing that they used to go around on their bikes in uniform.
Unlike in the show, Nonnatus House was not condemned but the nuns did move from the area to Birmingham in 1976 after nursing work in the Poplar was taking over the government.
But fans of the show can still visit the house that inspired Nonnatus House, St Frideswide’s Mission House in Lodore Street, East London now.