Dee Dee Bailey will go into early labour on Coronation Street next week as she gives birth to Joel Deering’s baby – but suffers some huge mistakes and decides to fight against racial injustice in maternity care
Dee Dee Bailey will be left at risk in Coronation Street next week – as she suffers the racial injustice in maternity care first hand. Dee Dee – played by Channique Sterling-Brown – will find herself in serious danger next week.
The young lawyer is set to welcome her first child but serious complications cause issues for her during the birth. On Monday’s episode, Dee Dee goes into labour but she is sent home from hospital despite being in a lot of pain. Her waters break and she rushes herself back to hospital, but a series of delays mean that she is rushed into emergency surgery.
Suffering a huge haemorrhage, Dee Dee has to undergo life changing surgery. Recovering in hospital, Dee Dee wonders if the treatment she has received – and the mistakes that were made – were avoidable and linked to her ethnicity.
Channique said: “We’ve worked with some brilliant organisations and charities who were really great at advising on this story. I got to speak to a woman who had a real lived experience of this, and her story is not dissimilar to what happens to Dee Dee. It was emotional to hear her story and just finding the truth in that as well.
“Many of the conversations have been really hard but really helpful to hear what some women went through. The story we’re trying to tell is one of truth. I don’t think there is any malice in any of Dee Dee’’s treatment. But it is a case of her being on an overstretched and understaffed Ward. She’s not being fully heard because of assumptions that are potentially being made.”
She added: “I also think she maybe is a little bit in denial, because I don’t think she’s probably quite ready to have the baby. It just ends up in a bit of an amalgamation of her pain being dismissed, and suddenly finding herself in a severe situation and she is really scared.
“Basically, everything is, all systems go in terms of getting the baby out as quickly and safely as possible. But it’s really frightening how quickly that develops, and how, if someone had intervened a bit sooner and picked up on those symptoms a bit sooner. It might have meant that such drastic measures wouldn’t have needed to be taken.”
In the next few weeks, Dee Dee will enlist the help of her pal Alya Nazir as she considers whether to make an official complaint to the hospital, accusing them of gross negligence. The soap is working with three organisations on the new storyline including Birthrights, which is a charity that protects human rights during pregnancy; Motivational Mum’s Club, which empowers mothers to make informed choices and advocate for themselves and FivexMore, the UK’s leading women’s health organisation focused on Black maternal health.
Birthrights’ co-CEOs Janaki Mahadevan and Shanthi Gunesekera said: “It’s extremely important that a show like Coronation Street is highlighting the experiences of Black women in maternity care. The data has long shown how Black women are more likely to suffer physical and psychological harm through pregnancy and birth… This is a crisis that has gone on far too long and we hope that by bringing this to the wider public attention we can increase the movement for change.”
Christina Brown, Founder/CEO and Health Equity Expert of The Motivational Mums Club, said: “As we move forward, it’s crucial that we maintain momentum in addressing the disparities that black mothers face during labour and after birth. Black mothers are almost 3 times more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth. There are the Black mothers who sadly, unfortunately have died and lost their lives. But there are the mothers who almost did. The psychological trauma of going through that, the psychological trauma of their families going through that is something that needs more awareness and addressing.”
Five X More founders, Clotilde and Tinuke, shared: “We acknowledge that the NHS is under immense pressure, and we welcome recent announcements regarding improvements in maternity care. However, systemic change is essential to ensure that Black women receive the safe, respectful, and equitable care they deserve.”
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