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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Kirsty McCormack

Emmerdale fans fear Tracy Metcalfe’s motherhood struggles will take a dark turn

Emmerdale viewers are concerned about Tracey Metcalfe after tuning into Thursday's episode of the ITV soap.

Tracy (Amy Walsh) has clearly been struggling with her baby daughter Frankie for a few months now, and she doesn't seem to be getting any better.

This week, soap fans saw her struggle to be apart from her baby girl after Nate urged her to go back to work and earn some money.

Nate convinced Tracy to let Faith Dingle (Sally Dexter) babysit, but when she returned home from work early, she was horrified at Faith's child caring skills.

The mum-of-one couldn't believe that Faith hadn't sterilised Frankie's dummy after it dropped on the floor and ordered her to leave.

Emmerdale viewers are concerned about Tracey Metcalfe after tuning into Thursday's episode of the ITV soap (ITV)

And during the latest episode, Tracy freaked out when Wendy Posner stroked Frankie on the face - and quickly rushed home.

Once back in their safe space, Tracy used several wipes to clean her daughter's face - but ended up accidentally cutting her cheek as she did so, causing the tot to cry hysterically.

Emmerdale fans are now concerned that the storyline is going to take a sinister turn and might not just be down to Obsessive compulsive disorder.

Tracy is being overly protective of baby Frankie and is paranoid about germs and illnesses (ITV)

Many are worried that Tracy is suffering from Munchausen Syndrome by proxy - a mental illness in which a caregiver makes up or causes an illness or injury in a person under his or her care.

According to the NHS, a similar condition is referred to as Fabricated or induced illness (FII).

The NHS website states it is a "rare form of child abuse" which "happens when a parent or carer, usually the child's biological mother, exaggerates or deliberately causes symptoms of illness in a child".

One fan took to Twitter and asked: "Tracy got MSBP Munchausen syndrome by proxy?"

Another viewer tweeted: "I wonder if Tracy has Munchausen's?" and a third said: "Is it postnatal depression Tracy has, or Munchausen syndrome by proxy?"

"Tracy will be putting a face mask on the baby next!" a fourth person predicted.

Tracy freaked out when Wendy Posner touched baby Frankie's face (ITV)

And another wrote: "If Tracy keeps wiping Frankie's face, she's gonna end up wiping the entire thing off."

It was originally thought that Tracy was suffering from Postnatal Depression, which is a type of depression that parents can have after having a baby.

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