Call the Midwife star’s pregnant friends ‘refuse to watch show’ after distressing scenes

star Renee Bailey, who lays Joyce Highland on the long running period drama, has admitted her pregnant friends can’t watch her in the show due to “scary” birth scenes.

Speaking exclusively to and other media she said: “I had a few friends that were pregnant while I was in it and they can’t watch it, obviously, with different types of births some things can be scary.

“But then I’ve had other people be like, ‘Oh, it’s really comforting actually, because it made me realise it’ll be okay’.

“So I get more people within my circle speaking about stories, and when they’ve told me stuff about their births or things that happened I know what that is [now].

“Sarita, the on-site midwife, actually showed me a video of a birth…I feel like I now when I talk to my friends with kids, I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah. I know. I know’.

Outside of her friend group Renee confessed she doesn’t get recognised from the show when she is out and about.

Her character wears a wig and she works with a dialect coach on her accent a Trinidadian accent so off screen she appears very different.

“No one ever can recognise me outside of it. I’ve been on set and not have the wig on and people are like ‘Well, that’s not how you look’.

“So they don’t recognise me outside of the wig. So I haven’t had people come up to me [on the street],” she laughed.

Thankfully, given the nature of the show, Renee also confessed she loves baby’s and is comfortable with them on set.

She said: “I love babies. I feel quite comfortable with it [holding them]. And also, a lot of the mums, it’s never their first child, so they’re very relaxed about it as well.

So I think that that energy and trust from them as well helps. It makes it easier for us to just be like, ‘Oh, we can do this and not worry that they’re scared’.

Call The Midwife is on One on Sunday night at 8pm.