Kym Marsh’s character on Coronation Street, Michelle Connor, has just been through the heartbreak of losing a baby at 23 weeks.
Viewers knew it was made all-the-more poignant by the fact that in real life Kym had also lost her baby boy, Archie, in similar circumstances.
And now she’s opened up about how losing her son made her fear for her daughter, Polly’s life.
Archie was born just 21 weeks into Kym’s pregnancy, and sadly passed away. And when she discovered she had a condition that meant she could go into labour early again when pregnant with Polly, Kym was terrified.
Speaking at the annual Red Sea Pedestrians Ball at the Lowry Hotel, she told the audience:
“I couldn’t believe that this could be happening twice. The thought of losing another child was just simply unthinkable.”
“The specialists at St Mary’s performed a procedure to stop me going into early labour and I was put on immediate bed rest and I spent many months in and out of hospital or in bed at home drinking tea and watching TV.”
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It was a difficult time for Kym, who carried to 33 weeks before giving birth to Polly in March 2011.
The little tot weighed just 4lb 11oz and had to be placed on a ventilator after suffering breathing difficulties.
Kym explained: “My world started to crumble.
“We were so beyond worried. We hadn’t expected her to need this intervention because she seemed to be doing so well on her own.
“Thankfully Polly only needed ventilating for a short time and we realised quite quickly that she was one of the lucky ones.”
Polly is now a healthy and happy little girl, and only last week, Kym lamented on Twitter how “grown up” her daughter was looking.
https://twitter.com/msm4rsh/status/837561184479895552
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During her speech, so also praised the staff at St Mary’s hospital as “true angels” and “miracle workers”.
Kym took her mum and a friend along to the event – and they all looked stunning.
Last nights event with my momma @marshyswife and my girl @LesleyAitken hair by my boy @VincentAllenby dress @_ForeverUnique 👍🏻👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/YSTxMBkIYS
— Kym Marsh (@msm4rsh) March 12, 2017
And the good news is, it raised £300,000 for St Mary’s NICU Unit and the Rheumatology Department at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.