The corporation initially received 80 complaints but the numbers increased gradually throughout yesterday, with roughly two dozen viewers contacting Ofcom directly.
Despite the Walford soap taking the decision to re-write and re-film the climax to their Rob-Dawn-May baby plot due to recent events in Portugal, it has still been criticised for the graphic nature of its scenes.
The episode in question – which averaged at 8.9 million viewers – saw Dawn (Kara Tointon) tied to a bed while May (Amanda Drew) threatened to perform a caesarian in a bid to take the baby from her.
It has been suggested that a warning about the nature of the scenes should have been given at the start of the programme which aired pre-watershed at 8pm, but the continuity announcer said only: "Dramatic EastEnders now on BBC One - it's misery for poor Dawn as mad May puts her plan into action."
A BBC spokeswoman today told DS: "[Monday's] episode involving the characters Dawn, May and Rob reached a climax that most viewers would have been anticipating.
"We are sorry if some people were offended by this drama unfolding and will be addressing complaints fully in due course."
