Newly qualified midwife Jenny Lee and the midwives and nuns of Nonnatus House cope with the medical problems in the deprived Poplar district of East London in the 1950s. The sisters and midwives carry out many nursing duties across the community. However, with between 80 and 100 babies being born each month in Poplar alone, the primary work is to help bring safe childbirth to women in the area and to look after their countless newborns.