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By Movieguide® Contributor
WHEN CALLS THE HEART lead actress Erin Krakow and her co-star husband, actor Ben Rosenbaum, have welcomed their first child — a baby girl born in early April, the couple announced exclusively to People magazine on Tuesday.
“It’s probably my favorite chapter of my life so far,” Krakow told Scary Mommy of the season of life she was stepping into. “I can’t wait to see what next year brings.”
The couple — who play Elizabeth Thornton and Mike Hickam on Hallmark Channel’s longest-running original series — announced their pregnancy in November 2025 with a joint Instagram post captioned “So much to be grateful for!!!” The sweet snapshot included the pair holding up their sonogram, their dog Willoughby sporting a “Big Brother” shirt, and the kind of barely-contained joy that fans of Hope Valley have come to expect from them.
They married in June 2025 after years of sharing a set, and apparently wasted no time making WHEN CALLS THE HEART’s small-town family values their own.
Krakow wasn’t the only cast member preparing for a big season. She and co-stars Kevin McGarry and Chris McNally were all expecting babies within a six-week window of one another — a real-life Hope Valley baby boom. “It was such a surprise to learn that we were all pregnant at the same time and due within six weeks of each other!” Krakow said.
“It has been so nice to be able to lean on one another and ask questions. Is this normal? How are you preparing for this? Did you find a stroller? It feels pretty comparable to the way we handle life in Hope Valley.”
Related: Erin Krakow Hints At When Hearties Can Expect Season 9 of WHEN CALLS THE HEART
She also laughed that her cravings nearly gave her away on set before she was ready to share the news. “I just wanted pickles on everything,” Krakow explained. “Crafty was starting to wonder, I heard, after the fact. They were like, ‘She is asking for extra pickles every time she gets a sandwich; is there something that we should be aware of?’”
For his part, Rosenbaum documented the couple’s pre-baby prep with characteristic humor. On Valentine’s Day, he posted a photo of himself crammed into a baby carrier. “Guys, she said she’ll be my Valentine,” he captioned it — a joke so on-brand for Mike Hickam it practically wrote itself.
Movieguide® has long championed WHEN CALLS THE HEART as exactly the kind of storytelling that reminds audiences what television can be at its best. The Hallmark series has earned multiple Movieguide® Awards nominations over the years, including the Epiphany Prize® for Inspiring Television at the annual Movieguide® Awards Gala — recognition that the show’s warmth, strong families, and faith-centered community have earned honestly. Most recently, WHEN CALLS THE HEART: Episode 12.2 earned a nomination at the 33rd Annual Movieguide® Faith & Values Awards Gala, held February 6 at the Avalon Theatre in Hollywood.
The show’s cultural staying power is real. WHEN CALLS THE HEART’s 2018 Christmas special drew 4.8 million viewers — Hallmark Channel’s most-watched scripted telecast for that holiday week. Even Rosenbaum couldn’t help crowing about it at the time. “Pretty cool! Thank you #Hearties!” he tweeted.
Season 13 of WHEN CALLS THE HEART premiered January 4, 2026, with Krakow navigating her pregnancy on screen largely through era-appropriate costuming while fans debated whether Elizabeth and Nathan (Kevin McGarry) would finally get their moment. Off screen, Krakow had already stepped into the role she’d been most anticipating.
“I’m taking it one day at a time,” she said of approaching new parenthood. “Everybody who becomes a parent figures out how to parent in their own way. So I’m kind of counting on that.”
Movieguide® congratulates Erin and Ben on their new baby girl. Hope Valley would approve.
Read Next: Surprise! WHEN CALLS THE HEART’s Erin Krakow Marries Costar Ben Rosenbaum
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