The Rovers Return Maternity Ward

It's a soap standard that very few babies are born in a hospital in the maternity ward. It's just not as dramatic as giving birth in a remote shack on a beach or in the back of a taxi, is it? Even in Corrie's early days we heard characters talk about having their babies. Ken Barlow himself was born in 1939 at home by Ena Sharples when his mother, Ida, went into labour suddenly.

It is no surprise, therefore, that the Rovers Return, the heart of the Street, has been the scene of several births over the years. The first one, as a character back story, was Elsie Tanner's daughter, Linda, who was born in the back room and delivered by Ena Sharples. Corriepedia verifies this.

The first birth on screen was the son of Tricia Armstrong who had baby Brad in the back room. Betty Turpin delivered him. Tricia had had a one night stand with Terry Duckworth. She was "in lurve" but Terry didn't want to know and he even questioned whether he was the father of the baby she said was his. Terry took off again for parts unknown and Tricia and her son Jamie moved into the Rovers with Jack and Vera. Tricia gave birth on February 14, 1997 though we were not witness to the actual labour and birth scene.

Things sure change in the course of a decade. Sweet Violet Wilson began working as a barmaid in 2004. After a few non-starters in the love stakes, she fell for Jamie Baldwin but they eventually broke up. She had no idea at the time that Jamie was romantically involved with his step-mother Frankie. Violet discovered she was pregnant but when she told Jamie, she discovered the truth about Frankie. Needless to say, they didn't get back together and Violet soon miscarried as it was an ectopic pregnancy.

It seemed that the motherhood gene was triggered in Vi. She and best mate Sean decided to have a baby together and since Sean was gay (ok, still is gay!) they went the turkey baster route which was successful.Violet wanted to keep the pregnancy secret for a few months but Sean was so excited that he let the secret slip...to Jamie! Sean was overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the baby and it made Violet feel crowded and she was having regrets. Too late to turn back now, my dear! Soon, however, she and Jamie rediscovered their feelings and reunited, much to Sean's chagrin. He wasn't happy that Jamie might be bringing up his son and that Jamie and Vi planned to move to London.

Violet was caught in the middle between Sean, the biological father of the baby and Jamie, the man she loved. More and more, she resented Sean's interference. On 22 February 2008, Jamie was en route to London to start moving some things when Violet went into labour. Sean and his boyfriend Marcus, a midwife, delivered the baby in the pub, in one of the booths. Sean began to bond with the baby, called Dylan, straight away making things even more difficult. Vi and Jamie ended up sneaking off to London a week or so later, breaking Sean's heart. Several years later, Sean has finally made up with Vi who has since broken up with Jamie and sees his little boy, Dylan, regularly.

Let's skip ahead to 2012 shall we? Tyrone Dobbs has already been a dad and lost that child to his former best friend, Kevin Webster who, as it turned out, was the biological father of baby Jack. Tyrone's wife Molly and Kevin had an affair and the resulting baby turned out to be Kevin's, not Tyrone's (and was born in the front room of Number 9, delivered by Sally Webster, ironically). Molly died in the tram crash and the next summer, Tyrone met Kirsty Soames, a police officer. They began dating but Kirsty rubbed Tyrone's friends the wrong way with her obsessive jealousy. Tyrone planned to break up with Kirsty who chased after he and mate Tina in her police car, causing an accident.

In hospital after the accident, Kirsty found out she was pregnant. Tyrone was over the moon when Kirsty promised him the baby was indeed his and they reconciled for the sake of the child. Kirsty lost her job and took a menial job at the factory. Her resentment built more and more and she began lashing out physically against Tyrone. He was not willing to fight back nor to leave her but Tina found out and it caused further confrontations between she and Kirsty. In one last physical confrontation, a nearly-nine-month pregnant Kirsty baited Tina who pushed her. She fell back against a table in the pub and then went into labour. There was no time, yet again, to get to the hospital and Marcus delivered another baby, this time in the back room. Little Ruby was none the worse for it.

Now we find out that Tina McIntyre, who is carrying a baby for Izzy and Gary may become the next in line to give birth in the pub. If true, this is starting to get a tad tedious and unimaginative, ITV, especially with a medical centre 20 feet from the pub door.

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