You are grieving for all your hopes and dreams for the future
Actress Leah Macrae has spoken of her sadness for women who have endured the terrible sadness of losing an unborn baby.
Leah’s character in River City, Ellie Mclean, suffers the trauma of miscarriage in powerful scenes to be shown this week and, the actress says, filming left her emotionally drained.
The 35-year-old star revealed she spoke with friends who have experienced miscarriage to help understand their grief, adding:
“I felt so, so sad when I heard this was happening because Ellie is such a good soul.
“When something bad happens to someone good, you almost feel it’s more unjust. “I spoke to friends who have had miscarriages and I know it’s affected their lives hugely.
“It’s all-consuming, absolutely horrendous.
“I know people whose babies have been stillborn, or born sleeping as they call it.
“Some of those I know have had multiple miscarriages and feared they’d never have a child and others still live with the devastation of one miscarriage.”
Viewers have seen Ellie and AJ, played by Sanjeev Kohli, delight in the news that they’re expecting their first child together.
But on Tuesday, Ellie’s mum Maggie has to break the shocking news that maternity staff can’t find a
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heartbeat and she’s lost the baby. Leah spoke in particular to one friend who had an ectopic pregnancy and says thinking about someone she cares about so much helped when she came to film the scenes where Ellie finds out about the loss.
Real sonogram pictures of both a healthy baby and one that had miscarried were used during the River City filming.
And it all took its toll on Leah.
She said: “It was really brutal. At the