Emmerdale’s Amy Walsh has opened up about her postnatal depression storyline, explaining she feared ‘heavy content and emotional scenes’ would affect her unborn baby.
The 34-year-old actress , who plays Tracy Metcalfe in the soap, discovered she was pregnant with her first child in the midst of the gruelling plot.
As it was early days in the pregnancy, the Emmerdale crew were not aware, so the actress sought advice from her midwife.
‘It was quite tiring but I just rallied through’: Emmerdale’s Amy Walsh detailed fears that ‘heavy content and emotional scenes’ would affect her unborn baby (pictured June 2019)
Amy recalled to The Mirror: ‘It was a lot of heavy content and emotional scenes, so I checked with my midwife to make sure that me crying all the time at work couldn’t be affecting the baby.’
The soap starlet was asked if she was leaving work ‘happy and satisfied’ – and when she said yes, it was then she learned she was getting endorphins from doing well at work, which differed from going through the ordeal personally.
Despite this, the sister of Girls Aloud pop star Kimberley added: ‘It was quite tiring, but I just rallied through. I felt sick, so I’d literally be nipping off set for a handful of nuts or a satsuma every 15 minutes.’
Poignant storyline: The 34-year-old Emmerdale star, who plays Tracy Metcalfe in the soap, discovered she was pregnant with her first child in the midst of the gruelling plot (pictured August 2021)
The new mother heaped praise onto the soap for their handling of the situation.
‘Emmerdale didn’t know for the first few months, but once I told them they were great. They said if I wasn’t comfortable with any of the story, they could make it less dramatic, but I’d filmed most of it by then,’ she explained.
Amy and her partner Toby-Alexander Smith – EastEnders’ Gray Atkins – became first-time parents over Christmas and took to Instagram to share their baby joy.
Happy news: Amy and her partner Toby-Alexander Smith – EastEnders’ Gray Atkins – became first-time parents over Christmas and took to Instagram to share their baby joy
‘Well…it’s been a busy week! Hope you all had a good one. HAPPY NEW YEAR from the three of us xxx @ok_mag @toby_alexander_smith’, she gushed.
Amy, who first hit the Dales over seven years ago, revealed to the publication that the storyline did initially shock her – but has not left her consumed with worry.
She added that it’s ‘brilliant she’s prepared’ and insisted that knowing there is help was ‘what the storyline was all about.’
Amy and Toby have been together since 2019 after meeting by chance in the Strictly Come Dancing audience.
While Toby supported co-star Emma Barton, Amy turned up for former Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher.
They moved in together in 2020 and announced the pregnancy in April the following year.
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Lucky meet: Amy and Toby have been together since 2019 after meeting by chance in the Strictly Come Dancing audience (pictured 2020)
Amy always wanted children but was fearful it may not be an easy journey after being told, aged 20, that she had polycystic ovaries.
As the interview wrapped up, the mother-of-one and auntie-of-seven revealed that they’d uprooted from Hertfordshire to East London to be closer to her family, with Kimberley having a six-month-old and elder sister Sally being a mother to a five-month-old.
For pre and postnatal depression advice and support, call 0808 1961 776
Source: Daily Mail
