Pregnant Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) faces another dash to hospital in EastEnders later this month, as her addiction to painkillers puts her unborn baby in danger.

As fans of the BBC soap know, Lauren has secretly become addicted to prescription medication following the injuries she sustained in the crowd crush at Peggy’s back in September.

Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) later found out about her struggle and used it as leverage to stop Lauren from revealing what she knew about her involvement in Kojo Asare’s (Dayo Koleosho) recent accident.

To help sweeten the deal, Cindy has started supplying Lauren with pills to keep her quiet.

In scenes to air from Monday 16 December, Lauren is trying to withdraw from medication and refuses Cindy’s offer of more pills. 

However, when her withdrawal symptoms worsen and she collapses, she’s worried she has hurt her baby. 

‘It’s so sad because Lauren knows what addiction is, she’s been there before,’ says Jacqueline Jossa, who plays Lauren. ‘She knows full well she’s falling back into a new addiction, but there’s nothing she can do about it because she can’t just stop.

‘Lauren is trying to do the right thing, but she just can’t because of the pain and collapses in agony. She can’t tell Peter why she’s collapsed, which is really sad.’

Lauren’s oblivious partner Peter Beale (Thomas Law) rushes her to the hospital for a scan, which confirms the baby is ok. 

News of Lauren’s pregnancy then reaches Cindy, who is horrified to realise Lauren has been using while pregnant.

Away from Peter and Ian, Cindy and Lauren have a vicious showdown, during which Cindy issues her an ultimatum –  either Lauren tells Peter the truth, or she will. 

But with Cindy still hiding her own secret, will Lauren retaliate by revealing all about Cindy’s confrontation with Kojo?

Jacqueline says: ‘It’s devastating for Lauren to be caught in this “you keep my secret, I’ll keep yours” situation, especially with someone like Cindy. Cindy is the mother-in-law from hell, and I really feel like there couldn’t be a worse person for Lauren to be blackmailed by.

‘I think Lauren wishes she hadn’t stumbled upon what she saw that night with Kojo because it has got her into a right predicament.’

EastEnders airs these scenes from Monday 16 December at 7.30pm on BBC One or stream first from 6am on BBC iPlayer.