Coronation Street lines up heartbreaking late miscarriage storyline for Michelle Connor

Coronation Street has announced that they will explore the heartbreaking subject of late miscarriage in a new storyline as Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh) is set to tragically lose her baby at 23 weeks.

The ITV soap has worked closely with Stillbirth and Neonatal death charity Sands on the storyline, while actress Kym has bravely agreed to be involved in the storyline after losing her son Archie at a similar stage in the pregnancy in 2009.

"I thought long and hard before agreeing to take on the challenge of this storyline," Kym said. "It is obviously a cause very close to my heart having lost my beautiful Archie at 21 weeks and 5 days. I discussed it with my family and friends, all of who were very supportive.

"In the end I felt it was an important story to tell in order to raise awareness of something which affects thousands of women every year."

The heartbreaking scenes will explore how the death affects both parents, as well as the extended family, and Kym opened up about revisiting the difficult feelings from her own personal experiences during filming.

"I have had to go to some very dark places in my mind whilst filming these heartbreaking scenes," she said, "but my family, friends and colleagues have been incredible. Losing a child is something that never leaves you so to revisit those feelings as Michelle has been challenging.

"Coronation Street ensured that I had a counsellor on set at all times to go to after filming the scenes but for me the best tonic after a hugely emotional day was to go home to my kids and be reminded of how lucky I am to have them.

"I am very proud of what we have done with this storyline and I hope it helps raise awareness and helps people to talk about their own experiences."

The storyline will begin early next year and will see Michelle and Steve (Simon Gregson) come to terms with the death of their baby Ruairi (pronounced 'Rory') after Michelle goes into early labour.

Coronation Street has been working with Sands to ensure the story is portrayed truthfully and sensitively, with Bereavement Support and Awareness Specialist Erica Stewart adding that she hopes the soap will be able to raise awareness of a devastating experience and the issues surrounding it.

"Miscarriage, which is the death of a baby in the first 23 weeks of pregnancy, is not rare," Erica said. "Sadly, it affects 200,000 couples each year in the UK, with most pregnancies ending in the first 12 weeks.

"For a TV drama like Coronation Street to cover this devastating experience is a brilliant way of raising awareness of the issues surrounding a baby's death at any gestation. The death of a baby is rarely talked about. Many people shy away from the issue, others have a misconception that this is a thing of the past.

"We hope that with a TV drama as popular as Coronation Street covering this heart breaking experience, it will help to lift the taboo, and raise awareness of all the issues that surround the death of a baby."

Coronation Street is set to air the storyline from January 9, 2017 on ITV.

Sands supports anyone affected by the death of a baby. You can contact the Sands National Helpline on 020 7436 5881 or email helpline@uk-sands.org.

Read more news, spoilers and gossip on our Coronation Street homepage

Want up-to-the-minute soaps news and gossip on your social feeds? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Soaps Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @soapscoop Twitter account.