The Patron Saint of Childbirth (etc.)

Saint Raymund Nonnatus was born in Catalonia in AD 1204. He was taken from the womb of his mother by caesarian section, after her death – hence his epithet.

His name became widely known in the second decade of the 21st century through the popular television drama series Call the Midwife, where the midwives are members of the Sisters of Raymond Nonnatus and their convent is Nonnatus House. The actual order to which the creator of the series, Jennifer Worth, belonged was the Sisters of St. John the Divine. The Community of St. John the Divine is based in Whitechapel, London.

© Haydn Thompson 2018