I guess it was a different time, but looking at that episode count of 25 episodes, you’d think they could have cut it down to 20 episodes to give Gillian a few more weeks off to spend with her daughter
It’s not like they *had* to have 25 episodes, even cutting it down to a regular 22 episode season would have been better than nothing
Instead it looks like the bare minimum was done to accommodate her really. I should try and find the interview, but I’m pretty sure I remember them talking about how soon after the birth One Breath was filmed and how Gillian kept falling asleep for real during the coma scenes, so the impression I got was that it was very very soon after the birth