Dawn Taylor (Olivia Bromley) finally goes into labour in Emmerdale soon but unfortunately, the birthing plan might go out of the window – along with Kim Tate’s (Claire King) ability to keep things together.
Kim is struggling in the lead up to Christmas because of her involvement in Craig Reed’s (Ben Addis) death. When Kim found Craig on her land, Ice the horse bolted and kicked the rapist, causing his death.
Upcoming episodes will see Kim confirm to Will Taylor (Dean Andrews) that she did play a part in Craig’s final moment. She reveals her side of the story, leaving Will feeling completely betrayed.
The next day, as he ponders over whether to keep Kim’s secret, Will is stunned when he finds her drunk and slumped against Dawn’s birthing pool.
Kim’s feeling the pressure
When she rushes off to throw up, Will worries about the state Kim has gotten herself into and what that will mean for Dawn, who wants Kim to be her birthing partner.
Meanwhile, over at the Christmas fair, Dawn’s contractions start, but can she get to Home Farm before the baby is born?
‘Dawn has obviously previously had quite a traumatic experience being pregnant when she was addicted to heroin at the time and had her baby taken away from her so I think this second chance at pregnancy, she wants to do everything totally different and almost is putting herself under extreme pressure to be the perfect mother, pregnant person’, Olivia Bromley told us, discussing Dawn’s pregnancy storyline.
‘She can’t quite believe it, she’s very stressed about it. So what she decides to do is go completely drug free basically and that is really daunting for her.
‘But also she goes down the holistic route – she wants to have a water birth and she wants it to be perfect but of course as in life these things don’t always go to plan and so she actually ends up going into labour at the Christmas Fair where she’s not with Billy, she’s actually with Aaron at the time.
‘That is not her expected labour but in the end she does manage to get back on her drug free plan and they have a healthy baby.’
Fortunately, Kim is on hand to eventually help Dawn with the birth, something Olivia describes as a ‘wholesome’ experience.
‘Kim is eventually a great help, and that’s a really nice element because Kim and Dawn have had a really difficult past, right back to when Dawn was first dating Jamie and Kim didn’t approve of Dawn’s past and didn’t think he was the right kind of woman to be in her son’s life.
‘Now Kim and Dawn have almost like a mother and daughter relationship, slightly from afar but they’re getting closer and closer so Kim being asked to be the birthing partner is a massive deal for both of them.
‘Kim is involved and does help with the birth. Everybody’s involved – Will’s involved, Billy is there too.
‘It’s a big family affair this birth but it’s really lovely for Christmas, it’s a wholesome, joyful Christmas experience and it goes to plan.’
