Call the Midwife star Helen George fired back on Twitter after she was criticised for working while pregnant.
The mum-of-two gave birth to second daughter Lark last November.
But Lark’s arrival came after scenes for the current series of Call the Midwife were filmed.
And while viewers picked up on how Helen‘s character Trixie’s scenes were filmed to obscure sight of her bump, Helen slapped down any suggestion she shouldn’t have been on set at all.
What did Helen George say about working on Call the Midwife while she was pregnant?
The 37-year-old insisted women have a right to continue in any line of work while they are expecting.
Helen tweeted late on Sunday (January 30) evening, hours after yesterday’s episode aired: “I’ve seen too many ridiculous comments about my pregnancy whilst filming @CallTheMidwife1 (also thank you for the lovely comments!).
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“Women get pregnant, our bodies change. But we have the right to work if we choose to do so.
“How about just supporting it, and don’t question it?”
Her tweet received over 15,000 Likes within hours, as well as hundreds of replies from supporters who agreed with her.
Cast mate lends his support
Actor Olly Rix, who plays Trixie’s love interest Matthew Aylward, also furiously lashed out at criticism.
Quote-tweeting one person who slammed Helen as “unprofessional”, he suggested the opinion expressed was the “dumbest [blank] tweet of the night”.
Women get pregnant, our bodies change. But we have the right to work if we choose to do so.
The poster, who subsequently deleted their tweet, originally claimed Helen should ‘quit’ the show if she wanted to get pregnant while the series was filming.
They added her pregnancy “ruins continuity and the aesthetics of the show”.
How supporters reacted to Helen
The vast majority of the hundreds of social media users responding to Helen and Olly were in agreement with the acting stars.
One person tweeted back to Helen: “I noticed straight away, especially with all the props in front of the tummy. Did it matter? Not a jot. Such a beautiful programme. Congrats to you.”
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Someone else wrote: “I can’t say I even noticed as was too much engaged in the story and your acting. You always look amazing and are a joy to watch on screen.”
And a third added: “Well said Helen, you’ve looked fabulous as always throughout this series. So many women work while pregnant and whether it’s in a TV show or on stage, it shouldn’t make any difference.”
Call the Midwife returns to BBC One on Sunday February 6 at 8pm.
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