If you watched Bridgerton Season 4, Part 2, you’ll likely have noticed a key change in the plot for Francesca’s story.

In the Julia Quinn books, Francesca actually is pregnant with John’s baby when he dies, but she suffers a miscarriage.

In the series, Hannah Dodd‘s Francesca believes she’s pregnant, but is not.

Keep reading to find out more…

“Ultimately, I think John’s death and the funeral are already in so many ways such a departure from the tone of the show,” Jess Brownell, the showrunner, told Swooon when addressing the removal of the miscarriage. “I think Episode 7 has hints of lightness, but it is a much darker version of Bridgerton in a way that I think is really interesting, and especially in the way we get to watch the family come together.”

She thought a miscarriage would end up being “too morbid.”

She added, “We’re still very interested in honoring the fertility storyline. It’s something we tried to honor this season, and we will continue honoring in her future season. But yeah, the miscarriage just felt like, for the screen, a bit too far. I think it would be difficult for Fran to come back from all that.”

Find out the reason why they changed Michael Stirling to Michaela.