This question was asked in last season's Cup Final, on 4 April 2017 (Question 7).
Nonnatus House was named by Jennifer Worth, the creator of the series, after Saint Raymund Nonnatus. Born in Catalonia in AD 1204, he was taken from the womb of his mother by caesarian section, after her death – hence the epithet. According to Wikipedia he is the patron saint of childbirth, midwives, children, pregnant women, and priests defending the confidentiality of confession.
The actual order that Jennifer Worth worked with was the Sisters of St. John the Divine. The Community of St. John the Divine is based in Whitechapel, London.
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