#SynopsisAutumn

"How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and colour are their last days." - John Burroughs

This shot made me feel so emotional. It brought memories back to that one episode of Call the Midwife where they brought to light the thalidomide children. If you are not aware about this, here is a brief over view. Developed by German pharmaceutical company Grunenthal, thalidomide was implemented as a sleep aid but was also used to relieve morning sickness in pregnant women, especially in Europe. Unfortunately, the medication had unknown side-effects — the offspring of mothers who take medication in the first weeks of pregnancy were often born with underdeveloped arms, eyes, ears, or heads. About 50% of these infants died at birth or immediately afterwards, but there is no definitive figure about how many children and families were affected by thalidomide. One of the most profound story lines that Call the Midwife dealt with was the story of a little girl that was born deformed due to the substance and had to get prosthetic to help her walk and use her arms effectively. Due to this thalidomide based prescriptions were recalled and strict limits on what sorts of drugs were given to pregnant mothers was put in place. These prosthetic from Azoury made me rethink about the whole issue and I was reminded of the guilt the mother's must have felt for taking this medicine, the doctor's guilt for prescribing it, and the husbands for allowing their wives to take the medicine (because they were the ones that allowed the doctors prescribe, because then a wife was not in control of that) . None of them knew what they were doing. For more information please check out The Thalidomide Society . The families have still not been given true justice, but there is hope. The drug's UK manufacturer Distillers for Distival agreed in 1973 to pay more than £20 million compensation to families affected, and in 2009 the then Labour UK government issued an apology and promised a further £20 million compensation, but no one from Grunenthal was charged.

Items used in the shot:

AZOURY - Synopsis L & R {Maitreya Lara} A flat foot height

Black Fair