EastEnders is set to screen not-so-festive scenes just after Christmas when a new mum loses her baby to cot death – and then swaps her dead child with another newborn.

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We can reveal the shocking scenes involve Ronnie Mitchell, who after discovering that her newborn baby has passed away in her cot, she runs to Albert Square’s resident pub, The Queen Vic, for help. However, when she hears other new mum, Kat Slater’s baby crying upstairs, she switches her deceased baby with Kat’s.

“When Ronnie loses the one thing she’s always wanted, she acts on impulse in a moment of sheer desperation,” executive producer Bryan Kirkwood told the Mirror.

The sad scenes are played by actresses Jessie Wallace and Samantha Womack, who were determined to make sure the plot was filmed with sensitivity. It will be aired on New Years Eve. “We are very grateful for their accurate depiction of the devastating effects the sudden death of an infant can have on a family,” Joyce Epstein from the cot death charity, FISD, said.

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To find out more about reducing the risk of cot death, take a look at MFM’s guide to safe sleeping.

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