Lacey Turner discusses surprise premature birth of son Trilby

Lacey Turner has said she was taken by surprise by the premature birth of her son and went to hospital with nothing but a packet of Mini Eggs and a nightie.

The EastEnders star told ITV’s Loose Women she initially got back into bed after her waters broke, because she was “so tired”.

Turner, who plays Stacey Slater in the BBC soap, recently welcomed the birth of her son Trilby with husband Matt Kay.

She said it was a premature birth and she was taken by surprise when her waters broke.

“I thought that only happened in films and I thought ‘surely not’,” she said.

“And I thought, ‘oh no, I can’t, I’m so tired’.

“So I got into bed and pretended it wasn’t happening and then I thought, ‘I can’t do this’.

“I phoned them up and they said, ‘You better come in’, and so I threw some Mini Eggs in the case and a nightie and I went in thinking I was coming home.”

She said she was yet to pack a bag to take to the hospital with her.

Turner said she was born prematurely herself and therefore “wasn’t scared” about the early birth of her son.

“I think the scary bit for me was after, when he was born, and he was so tiny and he had loads of tubes and everything, that sort of frightened me more than anything,” she added.

Turner said Kay was able to stay with her while she was in hospital.

“He was there throughout the whole birth which, I think, thank goodness, because it would have been really, really hard to do that on your own.

“I know so many women had to do that at the beginning of this pandemic, so I was really grateful that he could be there.”

Turner also revealed how she came up with the name Trilby.

“I actually worked with a girl years ago and she had a sister called Trilby Fox,” she said.

Turner added she “loved the name” and thought it was “so cool”, so decided that if she was ever to have a son she would give him the name.

She added: “I have to say to people, Trilby, as in the hat.”

Turner also has a daughter Dusty, who was born in 2019 after the actress previously suffered two miscarriages.