Coronation Street: Maria Connor's baby tragedy from 2008 explained

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Doctors then give the Corrie mum the devastating news she has lost the baby she was expecting with boyfriend Gary Windass (Mikey North) because she was exposed to the measles virus from baby Bertie Osbourne, widow Daniel's one-year-old son.

As Gary, who has been away visiting his other son in Bristol, returns to the upsetting news the couple reel from the bombshell, which unlocks painful memories for Maria of the tragic stillbirth she endured almost 12 years ago…

Maria and Liam's baby heartbreak

Having married factory boss Liam Connor (played by future Downton Abbey star Rob-James Collier) in February 2008 after a whirlwind romance and an unplanned pregnancy, Maria was fully aware his sister-in-law Carla Connor (Alison King) was desperate to get her claws into her man.

A few months into the marriage Maria and Liam had a blazing row about Carla and it looked like it was all over. Then Maria realised her baby had stopped kicking, and her worst fears were confirmed when a scan revealed there was no heartbeat.

Tragically, Maria kept the news from her husband and went through the whole thing without him, believing her only married her because she was pregnant. With sonographer friend Marcus Dent at her side she gave birth to her deceased little boy, named Paul after Liam's late brother.

Liam eventually learnt of the stillbirth of his son and the trauma finally tears him and Maria apart, pushing him into Carla's bed. Carla was thrilled when Liam promised to tell Maria they were together, only to then have a heart-to-heart with his wife about the loss of their child where she apologised for not telling him what had happened sooner.

Deciding to give their marriage another go, Liam dumped Carla and it was happily ever after with Maria - for about five minutes. By October 2008, Maria was pregnant again but as she rushed to tell Liam the happy news he'd been killed by a hitman hired by Carla's fiendish fiancee Tony Gordon, who wanted his love rival out of the way permanently. The lads were out on Tony's stag night at the time, and the wedding was understandably pushed back (Tony was fuming).

Liam died never knowing he had another son on the way, who we all know was named after his deceased daddy. Weirdly, Maria then started a romance with Tony before discovering he'd bumped off her baby daddy, and he even delivered little Liam on Southport beach the following July…

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