Jenny Agutter, the cherished star from Call the Midwife, recounted the unexpected early birth of her son, who was born five weeks premature on Christmas Day in 1990.
The mum-of-one, who brilliantly portrays Sister Julienne on the beloved BBC show, shared her personal story during a heartfelt interview with Yours Magazine.
While celebrating the holidays in Oxfordshire, the BAFTA award winner was taken by surprise by her early labour pains.
Reflecting on that moment before giving birth to son, Jonathan, she said: "I woke up feeling uncomfortable so I called my obstetrician and he asked me whether I was in labour."
At that time, unsure of what to expect, she responded: "I said I didn’t know because I hadn’t experienced it before and wasn’t expecting him yet. He said 'you’d better come in and I’ll see you.'"
Jenny, who plays Sister Julienne in the beloved show, now feels Christmas Day is more about celebrating her son's birthday.
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"I was there all day and my son arrived very late. It was a long day!"
Jenny and her hotelier husband, Johan Tham, enjoy their time between homes in London and Cornwall, a place she fell in love with through her artistic pursuits before meeting Johan.
She explained, "When I was collecting watercolours, years before I met him, I ended up with a collection of Cornish paintings of the area that I live in anyway."
This year, the family is gathering in Dorset, close to their son Jonathan’s home, to celebrate together. Agutter looks forward to these reunions, especially for the opportunity to be with her grandchildren, Oliver and Lyra.
"They live too far away for me to be hands on all the time, but when I am there I am," she says. "I’m there to tell stories and to play and crawl round on the floor and do whatever one needs to do."
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She added: "Children’s laughter is the most wonderful sound in the world and I am looking forward to hearing lots of it this Christmas."
The family tradition includes a Swedish feast on Christmas Eve, reflecting her husband's heritage. "It’s very much a yuletide smorgasbord made up of gravlax (cured salmon) and lots of herring and beetroot dishes with sour cream," she described. "There are meatballs and maybe a fillet of beef. Then you have Schnapps and sing Christmas songs."
On Christmas Day, along with the festive celebrations, they also celebrate her son Jonathan’s 34th birthday. "They get a double whammy Christmas and my son gets to enjoy his birthday!" Jenny, 72, exclaimed.
The festivities extend into quieter moments, like reading to her grandchildren. "Bath time is always great fun with lots of splashing and there’s a lovely Michael Morpurgo book 'On Angel Wings', which is a Christmas story I’d like to read to them," she shared.
In the evening, she plans to watch Call the Midwife, an episode she anticipates will be particularly moving.
"It’s an episode that really did make me cry. There’s little snow this year, but it has an almost Dickensian feel about it with all the difficulties one can face over Christmas with poverty and homelessness," Jenny remarked.
Despite the challenges and age, Jenny is not ready to retire her role as Sister Julienne.
"I love the crew and the cast that we work with," she stated. Recalling a recent encounter, she shared: "I’ve just been for my flu jab and the nurse said 'Ooh I think I recognise you' and we talked about Call the Midwife. It’s a point of conversation."
