Emmerdale star Olivia Bromley has revealed that viewers can expect a “wholesome, joyful Christmas experience” when her character Dawn Fletcher gives birth later this month.
Dawn discovered back in August that she and her husband Billy had a baby on the way. The veterinary receptionist already has a son Lucas with dodgy ex Alex Moore, while she and Billy have also adopted Lucas’ half-sibling Clemmie, the product of Alex’s affair with Dawn’s now late friend, Beth Reed.
In scenes to air on Thursday, December 21, Dawn goes into labour at the village fair, where her husband’s nemesis Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) is the nearest person on hand to help.
She manages to get back to Home Farm and has a natural water birth, having rejected pain relief as a recovering drug addict.
But it’s not all plain sailing as birth partner Kim Tate has been on a drunken bender after earlier admitting to husband Will - Dawn’s dad - that she played a part in the death of Lydia Dingle’s rapist, Craig Reed.
Reveals Olivia, “Dawn had a traumatic experience being pregnant with Lucas when she was addicted to heroin and had her baby taken away from her, so this is her second chance at pregnancy and she wants to do everything totally differently.
“She decides to go completely drug free and goes down the holistic route. She’s with Aaron when she goes into labour, which is not what she expected, but she does manage to get back on plan.
“Kim is, eventually, a great help. Kim and Dawn have had a really difficult past, but they have almost a mother and daughter relationship now. Will is involved and Billy is there, too. It’s a big, family affair and it’s a wholesome, joyful Christmas experience.”
Olivia adds that, not being a parent in real life, she had to research childbirth for the upcoming scenes, and asked for the advice of friends who have been through the experience.
“It was quite an interesting day’s work, I’ve got to be honest,” she laughs. “I didn’t expect to have a full day in a birthing pool, but it went well. It’s a big challenge, as an actor, to do that kind of thing, especially if you’ve not experienced it yourself.
“It’s really easy to make these things overly dramatic but, inherently, they are quite dramatic, so it was an interesting balance to find.
“We had a medical advisor on set to help and a little 12-day-old baby. I was terribly nervous to hold someone else’s newborn baby, but the parents were really chilled and were thrilled to see their newborn on screen.
“The real baby is called Malachy. Dawn’s baby is a little boy called Evan, after Billy’s late dad.”
It seems a happy Christmas is in store at Home Farm, if not necessarily at other Emmerdale residences, but in the true tradition of soap, things may not stay that way for long.
“There’s some big things coming up, definitely,” Olivia reveals, “but actually I’m in the dark because we’ve had some big changes.
“All I know is that there’s going to be a big drama for Billy and Dawn kind of in the Spring time.”
Emmerdale continues tonight at 7:30pm on ITV1.
