Mother’s fury after birth footage was shown in EastEnders

A mother is furious with the BBC over its ‘inhumane’ decision to show scenes of her giving birth in an episode of EastEnders.

Emma Bailey had allowed the birth of her son to be filmed for an educational charity - but was horrified when the footage appeared as part of a controversial storyline about teenage pregnancy and abortion in the soap.

On March 11 viewers saw Ian Beale persuading his pregnant teenage daughter Lucy to watch a DVD about childbirth to encourage her to terminate her pregnancy.

In the scene on EastEnders, Miss Bailey can be heard shouting: "I don’t want to do this any more." She is then seen holding Dominic as a nurse wipes blood from his face.

The mother of two from Southampton, said: "They see it as a horrible event, but for me it is my son’s birth."

"I would never have consented to audio of me giving birth. It is highly personal and intimate and you actually heard me giving birth."

The TV show obtained the film of the birth last December, when Miss Bailey agreed in principle that the footage could be handed over to EastEnders producers who said they were interested in using it in what they called an ‘educational and non-contentious manner’.

After it was shown, Miss Bailey complained to broadcasting watchdog Ofcom.

Ofcom has now ruled in favour of the BBC and confirmed that none of its broadcasting regulations were broken. A spokesman for the regulator said: ‘None of our rules have been broken.’

A spokesman for the BBC added: ‘We obtained the footage in good faith and were not aware of any restrictions.’