It wouldn’t be Christmas without a soap birth, and this year in Emmerdale Dawn (Olivia Bromley) and Billy (Jay Kontzle) are looking forward to the arrival of their first child together.
As is the norm, things don’t go exactly according to plan. Dawn’s chosen birthing partner, Kim Tate (Claire King), is actually slumped against the birthing pool drunk when Dawn goes into labour after Will (Dean Andrews)’s discovery of her part in the death of rapist Craig (Ben Addis).
Meanwhile Dawn actually starts feeling contractions at the Christmas Fair with only Aaron (Danny Miller) for company.
Olivia Bromley told Metro.co.uk what happens next.
Dawn’s in for some happiness this festive period
‘Dawn has 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,’ she explained.
‘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.’
One of the nicest elements, according to Olivia, was the role that Kim does eventually play in the birth and what it means for her relationship with Dawn.
‘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 (Alexander Lincoln) and Kim didn’t approve of Dawn’s past and didn’t think she 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.’
Kim’s not alone, either.
‘Aaron is not the major birthing partner but he does play a part,’ Olivia said.
‘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.’
Many soap births are dramatic or traumatic, but Olivia explained that this one was different.
‘The way the scripts were written, it wasn’t full panic or anything, Dawn just went into the zone and without pain medication. It’s quite an interesting thing to see, you don’t see water births and home births that much on screen, it’s often a big trauma around birth in soaps, it’s quite interesting to see one that goes well and to plan.’
Olivia told us that Billy and Dawn had worked hard to make sure their adopted daughter Clemmie (Mabel Addison) and Dawn’s son Lucas (Noah Ryan Aspinall) were made to feel very secure about their place in the family after the baby’s arrival.
‘The kids are very excited, so the stage we’re at with the scripts, we’re seeing this family unit at its best. Again that’s not something you see so much in soap because there’s always a tragedy. So at the moment, at the moment, everything’s great.’
Olivia, who hasn’t had children herself, enjoyed the experience of filming the birth scenes.
‘I didn’t expect to have a full day in a birthing pool but it went well,’ she recalled.
‘It’s just a big challenge as an actor to do this kind of thing, especially if you’ve not experienced it. It’s really easy to make these things very overly dramatic but inherently they are quite dramatic things so it was an interesting balance to find. We had a medical advisor on set to help and a little 12 day old newborn baby. It was a really interesting and good day at work. Jay was really helpful because he’s had his own kids, we worked together on that, it went well.’
As for what’s to come for the family, it’s a mixed picture as always in soaps.
‘I think it’s important to have a period of happiness and joy for the characters,’ Olivia said, adding,
‘But it’s not going to last long, I don’t think.’
