Gladys Turnbull

Gladys Turnbull was an auxiliary nurse at Weatherfield General and the mother of Sandra Turnbull who had found herself pregnant at an early age to a boy who then vanished. Sandra decided she wanted rid of the child as soon as it was born. Emily Bishop, who knew Gladys from her work at the hospital, mentioned the matter in passing to Rita Fairclough who was depressed at the fact that she and Len had been rejected as possible adoptive parents. Rita went straight to Gladys's home on Bland Street and offered to take the baby as soon as it was due to be born in September. Len was livid when he heard what she had done but avoided talking about the subject afterwards.

The next day Gladys called at 9 Coronation Street and nervously told Rita that she and her husband had decided to keep the baby themselves in the hope that Sandra would change her mind and accept the child. Rita understood and told Gladys that what she was doing was very sensible. Gladys was grateful, admitting to Rita that she had been in agonies since her visit and desperately working out what to say to her. A saddened Rita hid her intense disappointment and put the kettle on for a coffee.