<p>I’m thinking that Branson should move in with Matthew’s Mom. Ethel will (at first) not like the baby but then will fall in love with her. Of course, she would then in turn, fall in love with Branson. </p>
<p>I agree with Mrs. Patmore giving Ethel cooking lessons.</p>
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<p>Isn’t that the truth?!! 
Have you watched The Wire, booklady?</p>
<p>Right on, kathiep! I can only support the Branson - Ethel story line if they can then get Charlie back to raise.</p>
<p>OH, I like that!</p>
<p>It was probably the best ER episode ever. It was just amazingly acted, just like this DA one.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I am not sure I would want a country doctor performing a cesarean in a tiny low-tech hospital. >>>>>>>>>>></p>
<p>Well, considering the alternative that played out, I would! Obviously Dr. Clarkson’s experience came into play here. He didn’t say HE would be doing the C-sec, just that she needed to be in hospital and have one.</p>
<p>This time it was the sight of two doctors standing by and doing nothing as their Very Important Patient was suffering fatal seizures. The family members were battling to save her, but the docs were paralyzed. In real life, no matter how hopeless and inevitable the outcome, both doctors would have been all over Sybil trying to save her, fighting the symptoms at least if not the underlying cause. The family would likely have been kicked out of the room as the situation worsened. </p>
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<p>Dr. Clarkson said “THIS is eclampsia. Once it starts, there is nothing that can be done.”
: (</p>
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<p>I see it as strength, in the British-aristocracy sense. The overriding concern of families like this was to keep the estate in the family, and flourishing. Feelings and relationships were secondary. Mary, like Robert, (and unlike Cora, Edith or Sophie) considers herself a creature of Downton Abbey above all. I think that, in the absence of a son, Robert perhaps has treatest his smart and capable eldest daughter a bit differently than the others, taken her into his confidence about estate problems and worries, and as a result she lacks some of the softness of the other Downton women. She’s more hard-edged, more businesslike, more focused on doing whatever it takes to keep the estate in all its glory. Of course, these traits would be expected and admired if she were Robert’s son instead of his daughter. Personally, I like her.</p>
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<p>Oh indeed I have. It’s one of the most brilliant things that’s ever been on TV. You feel me? ;)</p>
<p>Funny, I remember that ER episode vividly.</p>
<p>Maggie Smith was brilliant. When her back was towards others, her face looked like she was about to crumble, her shoulders slumped, then, she walks in with family members and stands tall and brave. </p>
<p>I think Mary or Ethel will raise the baby. Even if Mary formerly takes on the task, the real work and love will fall to Ethel, who is becoming more Jane Austen-like.</p>
<p>The c-section sounded dangerous to me too. I was frustrated that Dr. Clarkson didn’t even suggest treating Sybil with magnesium sulfate either before or after the delivery. I did some quick looking around and read that this treatment did became popularized during the 1920’s so it was around. Maybe it was too cutting edge for the time and place, I don’t know, but I was stupefied that the guy who saw what was going on pre-delivery, understood the symptoms and need for rapid intervention, and tried mightily to intervene then, seemed to do nothing at all after the birth. He must have known the dangers hadn’t passed and that she needed treatment. Did you guys hear the almost resigned way in which he said, “it’s the eclampsia” when Sybil’s seizures began?</p>
<p>I sincerely hope that Matthew isn’t infertile and that Mary doesn’t end up taking Sybil’s child as her own. I’m also smacking my forehead that with all the new ways these people reject, they go for formula feeding.</p>
<p>I can see that as a plot development. The whole Downton family going for the formula idea and TOM insisting on a wet nurse, maybe after consulting a sister in law. They will seem so “backward” to the Granthams.</p>
<p>I don’t think Matthew is infertile at all. I think Mary doesn’t want to have children – I think she’s terrified, and now that Sybil has died she has an even better excuse. I think when she went to the doctor for her “hay fever” he provided her with some sort of contraception. But Matthew is going to assume it’s his problem, when it really isn’t. Then, at some point Matthew will discover Mary’s deception, and there will be hell to pay.</p>
<p>ooooooo…I could easily see that happening. Then the task of producing the heir to Downton Abbey would fall to Edith!</p>
<p>Whenever I see a character killed off, I wonder if the actor is otherwise occupied. I’m not saying this is the reason for her charater’s demise, but according to the Wikipedia entry, Jessica Brown-Findlay has been somewhat busy with movies and lead roles in a couple of other miniseries. Good for her.</p>
<p>3girls3cats, I’m relieved to see I wasn’t the only one who was reading about the history of preeclampsia treatments with my morning coffee. I too wanted to know when magnesium was first used. First used in 1906, became widely used in the 20s – this is only 1920, but surely at least Dr. High and Mighty might have known about it? Dr. Clarkson’s aggressive approach was most popular in Germany. C-sections for eclampsia had an extremely high mortality rate. But there was a third treatment that was gaining ground at that point, and had as one of its primary advocates a doctor from – wait for it – DUBLIN. This approach involved administering a ton of morphine to stop the convulsions, followed by a purgative, followed by an enema, and using digitalis to restart the heart if you went too far. Pretty horrifying for what was then considered the conservative treatment – but drs were claiming that 90 percent or more of their patients survived. This apparently became the prevalent treatment well into the 30s.</p>
<p>That’s what I learned today! :P</p>
<p>VeryHappy, your hypothesis sounds VeryPlausible. And if Mary didn’t manage to get contraception before, you’d sure think she’d redouble her efforts now.</p>
<p>Mary is in quite a spot…knowing that she needs to provide the heir, and knowing that her sister died in childbirth.</p>
<p>One of my favorite relationships on the show was the one between Sybil and the Dowager Countess. There was some real richness there; you could see Sybil’s influence starting to SLOWLY affect the Dowager’s outlook. The love between them despite their diametrically opposed opinions was interesting. I wish they would have let that relationship develop, instead of killing Sybil off. (If the actress wasn’t available, they could have found a replacement Sybil ala Darren in Bewitched).</p>
<p>I think VeryHappy has the plot line re Mary and Matthew’s children exactly right. I had initially thought that Mary had discovered that she is infertile when she visited the doctor. However, it seems much more probable that she did obtain some type of contraceptive.</p>
<p>I feel that someone ought to mention that some swelling of the ankles does occur in a normal pregnancy, with no pre-eclampsia, lest people be caused unnecessary worry. The possibility of pre-eclampsia would be monitored by essentially every OB/GYN now.</p>
<p>A question for the history buffs: why wouldn’t they have been monitoring her blood pressure, at least after possible problems started. According to Wikipedia the sphygmomanometer was already in popular use by that time.</p>