Rachel Boyd, who plays Sophia on Days of Our Lives, recently reflected on how she prepared for filming the intense labor scene. For those unfamiliar with the storyline, her character gives birth alone in her bedroom without any assistance. She then disguises herself and drops the baby off at the Salem Fire Department so that Javi can pick the child up. After delivering an authentic performance, Boyd shared what inspired her labor scene and how she brought it to life. Here are the details.

Rachel Boyd says Sophia is ‘all alone’ in Days of Our Lives

In a conversation with Soap She Knows, Boyd opened up about how her character remains “all alone,” not just literally but also figuratively, during the labor scene. She said, “She’s all alone, not just specifically in that moment but kind of at this pivotal time in her life in general.”

While she acknowledged that it would have been nice for Sophia to have someone by her side, she explained that her character didn’t receive support even from her close ones. “She doesn’t have the support systems in place that would be nice for her emotionally. She doesn’t have parents who are very supportive of her or a partner who is helping her through this. So for Sophia, there’s that pressure of, you know, the bomb’s about to go off, so to speak.”

Rachel Boyd discusses what inspired the labor scene in Days of Our Lives

In the same interview, Boyd revealed that she watched vlogs and videos to prepare for the emotionally intense scene. However, her biggest inspiration came from the film Philomena, directed by Stephen Frears.

She described the moment that particularly moved her: “There’s a scene where she finds out he had died, and she’s talking to somebody who knew him. And all they say is, ‘You know, he had a really strong handshake’ — and she’s so proud and emotional,” she explained. After watching the film, Boyd began to “symbolically” understand the bond between a new mother and her child.

Boyd shared that when she held the prop baby for the scene, she immediately recalled the moment from the movie. She said, “But I remember looking at it and thinking, ‘I wonder if he’ll have a strong handshake.’ It connected that feeling for me.”