Coronation Street star Channique Sterling-Brown has confirmed the future of her character Dee-Dee Bailey's emotional storyline.
The ITV soap is exploring racial injustice in maternity care as Dee-Dee takes on a brave fight following complications around the recent birth of her baby daughter.
The character received poor treatment at the hospital and was dismissed by medical professionals, later suffering a haemorrhage and undergoing an emergency hysterectomy. She subsequently wondered whether her treatment was linked to her ethnicity.
Speaking about what's next for Dee-Dee, Channique told the Off Script podcast (which is released tomorrow) that her character is "seeking answers" and "just needs to reconcile what's happened to her".
"The character is someone who is a big planner, she has all these plans, and I think for the last year, all her plans have gone to pot," she noted. "So I think she's trying to work out: how does she regain control of her life a little bit?
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"But also understand what's happened to her and how she can stop it happening to anyone else. Because I think that's the main thing for her."
Channique express hope that "people understand that when we look after one of us, we look after all of us".
"So this conversation is about, yes Black women's maternity care, but hopefully improving that improves it for everyone," she added. "I hope that storytelling starts to come across about why it's a little bit different, but why honing in on it can benefit us all in the long run."
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The actor also reflected on the reaction to the storyline, admitting she is "blown away" by the response from viewers, especially as people have been "so engaged and so positive".
"I was nervous about it – it's a big story to tell, it's a complicated story to tell," she recalled. "For me, I've never given birth, so a big thing for me was honouring mothers and doing that well. Also honouring our NHS, they are understaffed, overstretched, and that's obviously a factor.
"But I think also telling this story that does directly affect the Black community was important as well, and it's been great to see people engage in conversations."
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Channique revealed that many mothers have been in contact to share their stories, as well as healthcare workers who are campaigning for more awareness and "trying to learn to unwork these biases".
"It's been really great, and the main thing is we really wanted people to take pause and have a conversation, and that seems to be what's happening," she added. "I'm really, really pleased."
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
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