ben had a baby with lola pearce in eastenders.
ben had a baby with lola pearce in eastenders.
who does ben have a baby with in eastenders?
lola pearce
in october 2012, a storyline involving lola pearce (danielle harold), forced to hand over her baby lexi pearce, was criticised by the charity the who cares? trust, who called the storyline an "unhelpful portrayal" and said it had already received calls from members of the public who were "distressed about the "eastenders" scene where a social worker snatches a baby from its mother's arms". the scenes were also condemned by the british association of social workers (basw), calling the bbc "too lazy and arrogant" to correctly portray the child protection process, and saying that the baby was taken "without sufficient grounds to do so". bridget robb, acting chief of the basw, said the storyline provoked "real anger among a profession well used to a less than accurate public and media perception of their jobs .. "eastenders" shabby portrayal of an entire profession has made a tough job even tougher."
eastenders
the bbc responded by saying, ""eastenders" has undertaken a great deal of research to script the storyline of billy and honey giving birth to their baby daughter. "eastenders" takes enormous care with its research and takes advice from experts in the given field. in addition, for this particular storyline "eastenders" talked to numerous families with children who have down's syndrome. some of their experiences were depicted in these early episodes. also closely involved was a senior midwife from a large uk general hospital who saw all scripts. in relation to some particular points raised, honey was not denied an epidural — she made the choice to put herself out of reach of communicating effectively with the midwife by locking herself in the bathroom. when the news was broken to honey and billy that their baby had down's syndrome, "eastenders" has in fact drawn directly from one particular true-life story — and while this may indeed not be best practice it is worth saying that good drama does not necessarily come from best practice." despite the bbc's "extensive search" to cast a real down's baby for the birth episodes, they were unable to do so, resulting in the shots of the newborn baby being less authentic and limited. the bbc added, "in the coming weeks honey and billy's child will be played by a baby with down's syndrome. it is worth noting that "eastenders" has received incredibly positive feedback from the down's syndrome association following the first few episodes, whom we are continuing to work with very closely." carol boys, chief executive of the down's syndrome association, has confirmed that 40% of parents whose babies were diagnosed after birth were given no written or practical information about the condition, and 11% were told, as honey was, by a midwife rather than a paediatrician: "the way in which billy and honey have learnt of their baby's disability, and their subsequent support from their health professionals, is not a best-practice model. however, neither is it an unrealistic situation. bbc researchers and scriptwriters have based the scenes on conversations with families who have children with down's syndrome, and the scenes have struck a chord with thousands of our parent members across the country. some health professionals hold outdated or prejudiced views about people with down's syndrome that prevent them from giving parents a balanced picture of what the future will hold for them."
billy mitchell (eastenders)