The Wombs of Weatherfield

(This post was originally posted by Ruth Owen on the Coronation Street Blog in February 2017, reposted to this blog with permission.)


One of the central cobbles themes of late is all about babies, pregnancy and IVF. To start with Leanne - we saw her give birth in a lift with out of favour sister, Toyah, as midwife. The ambulance arrived, Toyah, Leanne and baby Oliver, were freed from the lift and, holding her baby tight, Leanne was wheeled into the ambulance. Nick hopped in to accompany Leanne and 'their' son to hospital. There was a meaningful glance between Nick and Steve, the biological father, then off drove the ambulance.

Oh the irony! On the very day that Steve and Michelle scattered their baby's ashes, Steve's 'other baby' was born. How difficult this will be for Steve and indeed for Liz, as Leanne's much-wanted baby, is to be brought up by Leanne and Nick, barely a stone's throw from The Rovers. Will Liz approach Leanne and hope for some contact? And what about Michelle? Will she be suspicious as to why Liz is so interested in Leanne and Nick's baby? And Gail - will she learn that the baby she thought was Nick's isn't Nick's? She may have already become attached ...so how might she react? 

A further irony is that Toyah missed her IVF appointment as she was busy delivering Leanne's baby. Time will tell if Toyah and Peter have a baby together and, in his more mature years, whether or not Peter will step up to the plate and be a full time dad. But, doesn't Chloe, the girl in the taxi, loom over that possibility.

And might Michelle and Steve try for another baby? After seeing Michelle holding Oliver, might it not be the case that she will be keen to try again? Until she finds out that her husband is in fact Oliver's biological father. Then what? And can Leanne live a lie?

A while ago, we discovered that Mary had had a baby at the tender age of 14, which was forcibly taken from her. She found him, was offered a new life at the other side of the world, but changed her mind at the last minute and stayed in Weatherfield.

What of future births on the cobbles? Sarah and Gary could have a child - the second for Gary and the third for Sarah. And Rosie? With Adam or someone else?  Sinead and Daniel? And what about Maria when she is released?  Will she and Aidan be a couple or will he stick with Eva, who, I would guess, would love a child with him. And there's always Tracy and Luke. Maybe there will be a romance between Chesney and Gemma. Might Tyrone and Fiz have another child? But where, may I ask, is Dylan, Sean and Violet's child?

Despite all this womb chat, I am with Jennifer Aniston, whose womb has probably endured more scrutiny than any other. She wrote an article on that very topic and I couldn't agree more with her. Her take was that women should not be defined by their reproductive capabilities - not now, not then and not in the future.

Ruth Owen, twitter: @Ruth1722



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Top 5 crazy baby births in Coronation Street

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog March 2016, reposted to this blog with permission.)

With Sarah almost giving birth in Preston's Petals this week in Coronation Street, let's have a look at some of the more unusual ways of bringing a child into the world on the show.

1. Back of a cab

 

Sally gave birth to her first baby in the back of Don Brennan's taxi. It was parked on Rosamund Street and so Sally called the baby Rosie. Sally was assisted in the birth by Liz McDonald.

You can watch the scene here.




2. On a beach with a murderer

Maria went into labour with Liam's baby while walking on a beach with the man who killed her Liam, Tony Gordon.  You can watch the scene here:



3. Delivering your husband's love child

When Molly Dobbs went unexpectedly into labour with Kev's baby, it was Sally and Kevin who delivered baby Jack. At this time, Sally didn't know that Kevin was the baby's dad and that her husband and Molly had been having an affair.

4. In the Rovers Return

Dylan was the son of Violet and Sean. He was the first baby ever to be born in the front of the Rovers Return.

5. Away in a manger

And lo, baby Joseph was born in a manger on the stage at the Bessie Street School nativity play.

Any more unusual baby births you'd add to this list?





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Congratulations to Corrie's Jennie McAlpine

The Manchester Evening News has the scoop today on the arrival over the weekend of Jennie McAlpine and partner Chris Farr's new baby.  The baby's name is Albert and he was born on Saturday, November 29. Jennie herself tweeted the news.

“On Saturday our lives changed forever with the arrival of our baby boy Albert. Happiness and pride like never before x”

We here at Blog Towers welcome baby Albert into the world and send congratulations to the new Mum and Dad!



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Poll: Music to herald in the new Corrie baby

We know that Kylie's baby is due soon, probably next month, I read with a chuckle some of the suggestions in the blog comments on the Coronation Street blog (on a spoiler post so I won't link to it) for the song that might be playing in the background as she goes into labour. With that in mind, shall we have a poll? Here's a couple of the best suggestions, and a couple from me but feel free to add your own!




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The Rovers Return Maternity Ward (with rumour)

It's a soap standard that very few babies are born in a hospital in the maternity ward. It's just not as dramatic as giving birth in a remote shack on a beach or in the back of a taxi, is it? Even in Corrie's early days we heard characters talk about having their babies. Ken Barlow himself was born in 1939 at home by Ena Sharples when his mother, Ida, went into labour suddenly.

It is no surprise, therefore, that the Rovers Return, the heart of the Street, has been the scene of several births over the years. The first one, as a character back story, was Elsie Tanner's daughter, Linda, who was born in the back room and delivered by Ena Sharples. Corriepedia verifies this.

The first birth on screen was the son of Tricia Armstrong who had baby Brad in the back room. Betty Turpin delivered him. Tricia had had a one night stand with Terry Duckworth. She was "in lurve" but Terry didn't want to know and he even questioned whether he was the father of the baby she said was his. Terry took off again for parts unknown and Tricia and her son Jamie moved into the Rovers with Jack and Vera. Tricia gave birth on February 14, 1997 though we were not witness to the actual labour and birth scene.

Things sure change in the course of a decade. Sweet Violet Wilson began working as a barmaid in 2004. After a few non-starters in the love stakes, she fell for Jamie Baldwin but they eventually broke up. She had no idea at the time that Jamie was romantically involved with his step-mother Frankie. Violet discovered she was pregnant but when she told Jamie, she discovered the truth about Frankie. Needless to say, they didn't get back together and Violet soon miscarried as it was an ectopic pregnancy.

It seemed that the motherhood gene was triggered in Vi. She and best mate Sean decided to have a baby together and since Sean was gay (ok, still is gay!) they went the turkey baster route which was successful.Violet wanted to keep the pregnancy secret for a few months but Sean was so excited that he let the secret slip...to Jamie! Sean was overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the baby and it made Violet feel crowded and she was having regrets. Too late to turn back now, my dear! Soon, however, she and Jamie rediscovered their feelings and reunited, much to Sean's chagrin. He wasn't happy that Jamie might be bringing up his son and that Jamie and Vi planned to move to London.

Violet was caught in the middle between Sean, the biological father of the baby and Jamie, the man she loved. More and more, she resented Sean's interference. On 22 February 2008, Jamie was en route to London to start moving some things when Violet went into labour. Sean and his boyfriend Marcus, a midwife, delivered the baby in the pub, in one of the booths. Sean began to bond with the baby, called Dylan, straight away making things even more difficult. Vi and Jamie ended up sneaking off to London a week or so later, breaking Sean's heart. Several years later, Sean has finally made up with Vi who has since broken up with Jamie and sees his little boy, Dylan, regularly.

Let's skip ahead to 2012 shall we? Tyrone Dobbs has already been a dad and lost that child to his former best friend, Kevin Webster who, as it turned out, was the biological father of baby Jack. Tyrone's wife Molly and Kevin had an affair and the resulting baby turned out to be Kevin's, not Tyrone's (and was born in the front room of Number 9, delivered by Sally Webster, ironically). Molly died in the tram crash and the next summer, Tyrone met Kirsty Soames, a police officer. They began dating but Kirsty rubbed Tyrone's friends the wrong way with her obsessive jealousy. Tyrone planned to break up with Kirsty who chased after he and mate Tina in her police car, causing an accident.

In hospital after the accident, Kirsty found out she was pregnant. Tyrone was over the moon when Kirsty promised him the baby was indeed his and they reconciled for the sake of the child. Kirsty lost her job and took a menial job at the factory. Her resentment built more and more and she began lashing out physically against Tyrone. He was not willing to fight back nor to leave her but Tina found out and it caused further confrontations between she and Kirsty. In one last physical confrontation, a nearly-nine-month pregnant Kirsty baited Tina who pushed her. She fell back against a table in the pub and then went into labour. There was no time, yet again, to get to the hospital and Marcus delivered another baby, this time in the back room. Little Ruby was none the worse for it.

Now we find out that Tina McIntyre, who is carrying a baby for Izzy and Gary may become the next in line to give birth in the pub. If true, this is starting to get a tad tedious and unimaginative, ITV, especially with a medical centre 20 feet from the pub door.



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