Shabnam Masood’s baby will be stillborn in ‘EastEnders’.
The tragic scenes – which will air later this month – will show her and Kush Kazemi (Davood Ghadami) struggle to come to terms with the death of their unborn baby, which will have devastating effects on their lives.
Rakhee Thakrar, who plays Shabnam, said she hopes the storyline will help the public become more open about the issue, explaining: "In the UK, 3628 babies were stillborn in 2013, that’s one in every 216 births; a shocking fact I’ve come to learn during my preparation for telling this story. It is an experience that profoundly changes a person’s life forever, and we feel a heavy responsibility to tell the truth of this. Our hope is that we can encourage people to talk about their experiences and their babies that have died."
The BBC One soap has worked with neonatal death and stillbirth charity Sands while creating the plotline in order to accurately reflect the turmoil which such a loss can cause and the organisation insists the scenes will be portrayed with "incredible sensitivity".
Erica Stewart, Bereavement Support Services Manager at Sands, added: "We hope that with a TV drama as popular as ‘EastEnders’ covering this heartbreaking experience, it will help to lift the taboo, and raise awareness of all the issues that surround the death of a baby. We worked closely with the writers and actors on this storyline. We really appreciate their dedication to ensuring that they portray the impact that the death of a baby has on bereaved families as truthfully as possible. Everyone involved has approached this storyline with incredible sensitivity."
Shabnam Masood to have stillborn baby in EastEnders
