The pupil midwives begin their studies, including the excitable Nancy Corrigan, who has come from an orphanage/convent in Ireland where she has been living since the age 7 when her mother died. Nancy is to live at Nonnatus House; on her first day of rounds her manner unsettles a patient so much that she opts fora hospital birth instead of a home delivery. Ultimately, however, Nancy proves her skills when she must take charge of the birth when the patient is unable to make it to hospital.