Simon Gregson has revealed he and his wife have lost 11 babies, after ‘Coronation Street’ aired a ‘late miscarriage’ storyline.
The 42-year-old and his wife Emma Gregson first lost a child when Emma was 21 weeks and four days pregnant.
“As a bloke being there and witness to all of this, you feel completely helpless,” Gregson said, speaking to The Huffington Post UK and other reporters.
“Your wife who has carried the baby and has now given birth to the baby and there’s all the stuff that goes with being a human being – the chemical reactions, the stuff going on in your brain, the hormones – the bloke there is just completely helpless.
“What more can he do except just support, but men and women grieve differently for all sorts of reasons.”
The ‘Coronation Street’ storyline saw Gregson by the side of his partner Michelle, who was 23 weeks pregnant when she lost her baby.
The night it aired on Wednesday 11 January, Gregson’s wife received an insensitive message on twitter prompting him to tweet:
“To the £&)(; who tweeted my wife. We’ve lost 11 babies, first being 21 weeks four days.
“Maybe think or do your research before tweeting someone.”
Gregson is dad to Alfie, nine, Harry, seven, and Teddy, one.
Kym Marsh who plays Gregson’s on-screen partner Michelle, also lost her son Archie at 21 weeks, eight years ago.
Gregson said both of them realised how hard-hitting the scenes were when they watched it back and weren’t in “work mode” anymore.
“We were like: ‘Wow, that was quite upsetting’,” he said. “We absolutely loved doing it. It felt like we were doing good work, a proper drama.”
‘Coronation Street’ continues on Friday 13 January at 7.30pm. For more information on stillbirth and neonatal death, contact Sands.