Favourites Feature: Westrea

I thought it would be nice to have a regular feature spot highlighting bloggers and hand-makers with relevant news and products. I have lots of blogs I follow personally and know some fantastic craft producers and I'd love to share them with you.

First up is Westrea Design Studio based in beautiful Devon. This blog and attached online shops, Facebook pages and Folksy account, previews her work - bags ideal for baby paraphernalia, purses, wet wipe cases, collectible mohair bears - everything is hand crafted by this very talented lady. Feast your eyes on this...

Did you take a look? What did you think? Please leave comments below.

Almost at the target...

We're almost at our 50 birth story target - number 44 has just been posted. Do you know anyone who might be interested in reading this blog? Someone who may be willing to share their story? It would be fabulous if you could recommend this blog!

Lesley's story, UK - waters breaking early and Group B Strep

"September 2002

This was my first pregnancy. I was 19 years old and 28 + weeks pregnant.

In this pregnancy I had really bad sickness and and sciatica, I was bed ridden for weeks with my back. Other than that I was enjoying it. One day in September 2002 I was having a lie down (at my partner at the time's house) as I wasn't feeling too well. When I felt a gush of warm water between my legs I got up in such a fright and looked at the bed; it looked like I had peed the bed. My boyfriend at the time shouted for his mum who phoned my local midwifery unit who said I had to go to the labour suite 25 miles away and had to wear a pad. So I did and when we got to the hospital they tested my pad and said that it was my waters that had gone. I got put straight on a drip to try to stop the contractions and got steroids injections. I was so scared but they said that they would do everything in their power to stop my labour progressing. I got a scan and was told the head was well down. Hours passed and I was kept in the labour suite as they said my baby was well on his way. During the night nothing seemed to happen; I was given the steroids again 12 hours after the first time. I was kept on my drip to stop my labour for 48 hours. After that they put me up to the maternity ward and I got checks every few hours. This would be my new home for the next week. During the week they discovered Group B Strep in my urine and in my high vaginal swap. I had never heard of this before and was puzzled to what it was so I was explained to that I would need antibiotics for the rest of my pregnancy because of my waters breaking and that also during my labour that I would need a drip in to administer antibiotics straight into me to stop my baby becoming ill when he entered the birth canal. After they were convinced that I was OK to go home, I was given my tablets and leaflets and told not to have sex. 

October 2002

I was getting checks all the time to make sure everything was OK, I would have scans and blood taken. When I went for a check one day I was kept in as I was having tightenings, nothing happened and after a few days I got home. This happened a few times over the next few weeks. 

20 November 2002 

36 weeks pregnant

They were really happy that I had made it this far and decided I would be booked in for induction on the 2nd December, 18 days before my due date. On the 20th November I got my usual scan and blood taken and they said everything was fine. The next day, 21st, I received a phone call from a midwife telling me to get straight into the hospital as they had found a problem in my blood. I was so scared. I got there straight away when I was told that my CPU level in my blood was at 2 and if it went to 3 there was a great danger of infection and that I was to be induced straight away. I was taken to the labour suite and put on my drip to start my contractions and my drip for antibiotics so here I was stuck on a bed with a drip in each hand after about 9 hours my baby boy Dylan entered this world weighing in at 6lb 6oz, 4 weeks early. He was taken away and had swabs taken on his eyes and ears to be sent away to make sure he had not contracted the Group B Strep. Luckily he didn't. We got home after a few days but were back in for a week afterwards as he was really bad jaundiced. I hated being back in there but knew it was the best place for him. 

My son is 9 years old in November and he has no idea the trouble we went through to keep him in my belly until 36 weeks - one day I shall explain."

Submit your story to marvellousmummies@live.co.uk - please state whether you would like your name and location published otherwise by default you will become 'Anon'.

Winner announcement!

Good evening everyone! The mei tai giveaway competition has ended and the winner has been drawn - drumroll please...

I am pleased to announce that the winner is number 35 - Facebook user name:

Natelle Nuttynel Arnold

An email will be sent requesting contact details to arrange delivery, congratulations!

The winning number was drawn using http://www.random.org/

Thank you to everyone who entered - a new competition will be coming soon so keep a look out!

Tanya's story, Kent - 34+4 weeks, first c-section, 3rd baby

"Thursday 2nd December

I had a routine midwife appointment which showed Jack's heart rate was way too high so we were sent to maternity day care and strapped to a monitor. His heart rate was up and down but they were not concerned about it at all. Little did we know this was the start of things to come.

Saturday 4th December

I had been getting irregular pains/tightenings since the Friday night but just brushed it off as I had been getting them for a while. I woke up 4am Saturday morning and they seemed stronger and more uncomfortable so I rang the hospital and was advised to go in.

Once there I was given all the usual checks and then the Dr came round and examined me; it was quite a shock to hear I was 3cm and in established labour. I was taken to the delivery ward and given steroids and also drugs to stop labour which I would have to have for 36 hours. To cut a boring story short, I was still getting regular pains so the drugs were not working and I was getting some contractions showing on the monitor so they decided to stop the drugs. I was examined again and was 4cm dilated and I was left in the delivery room. Sunday morning, I was transferred to the ante-natal ward where I stayed until Tuesday 7th December. All the time I was in I was getting irregular contractions but not much else was happening. Every time I was on the monitor Jack's heart rate at times, was going through the roof; everytime we queried it we were told it was normal and it meant he was active even though he wasn't moving. We didn't say much else about it as obviously we put our trust in the midwives!!!!

I was sent home on the Tuesday in slow labour and told to wait it out and wait for labour to start properly. It was an uncomfortable couple of days with hardly any sleep and by the Thursday after trying everything I decided sex was the only thing left to try!!

Thursday 9th December

At about 4pm I started contracting every 10 minutes. This carried on until 9pm when I couldn't take the pain anymore so after ringing the hospital we went in. As soon as I got in the room the charming midwife asked if I was after an induction... hmmmm, no, I knew my baby was safer inside rather then out at 34+4!!! She strapped me up to the monitor and that's when things went wrong. Jack's heart rate was over 250bpm, I knew then something was not right. She used an old fashioned heart listener and it was the same, she was hoping that the monitor was having a moment which it was clear then it wasn't. She called the Dr who rushed in with a scanning machine and scanned Jack. It wasn't good, his heart rate was dangerously high - the next thing I just heard the words c-section and then loads of people were rushing in talking to me, shoving lines in my hands, shaving me!!! By this time I was confused and crying.

I was taken to theatre, given the spinal then laid down. The first cut was made at 23.31pm and my gorgeous baby Jack Aaron William Osgood was born at 23.32pm, weighing 7lb 9oz at 34+4.

He was handed to DH while I was stitched, the whole time his heart rate was being checked. We were told if it didn't slow down he would have to go to SCBU. We were taken to recovery where I held my precious boy for the first time. I held him for a couple of minutes then he was taken to SCBU as his heart rate was still too high.

To cut a long story short my precious boy's heart rate didn't improve so he had to go to St Thomas's where, with medication, his heart is now beating at the right speed. This is the first time I have written my birth story and it is so upsetting to sit and do but I know to overcome the upset I have to do it and face it. I never got to give him his first feed or change his first nappy, I was away from him for the first 24 hours of his life, these hours can never be replaced and I find that hard to deal with, as I do looking at his newborn photos with him strapped to machines. I just thank God every day I went to the hospital when I did otherwise who knows what could have happened. My mother's instinct truly kicked in that day and I now have a gorgeous 8 week old baby boy who is thriving. As hard as it is to deal with his birth, I am forever thankful for being blessed with him, my little fighter."

Submit your story to marvellousmummies@live.co.uk - please state whether you would like your name and location published otherwise by default you will become 'Anon'.

Elaine's story, Scotland - infertility treatment for a beautiful boy

"5 Nov 07

THAT'LL BE THE MUCUS PLUG!!!

Well, (TMI warning) things are definitely moving along, when I had my 4.45am visit to the loo on Saturday morning, I wiped away some lovely salmony pink CM!!

It's now coming in dribs and drabs and is a little darker, so having to wear a pad at all times. Think that's my mucus plug officially gone, so getting closer to the finish line!!

Had another acupuncture appointment today - my back feels so much better, and she stuck a couple of needles in my shins again for energy! Made appointment for next Tuesday - but I'm hoping I won't need it!!!

9 Nov 07

PLEASE COME OUT TO MEET MUMMY & DADDY SOON!!!

We had clinic appointment on Wednesday and had a touch of protein in urine and slightly higher BP than usual, so two hours at the MDA in Wishaw that afternoon. BP was up and down and bloods showed a touch of pre-eclampsia, but they were happy enough for me to go home.

Made another clinic appointment for next Wednesday and MDA appointment with consultant for next Friday. Then at 2.30am Thursday had a proper "show" and cramps every 5-6 minutes lasting between 10 and 20 secs. DH wanted to phone Wishaw straight away, but I managed to put him off for a couple of hours as I knew there was a chance it could all calm down again. Anyway, when I did eventually call, the nurse said she wanted them longer lasting and closer together - needless to say, by the morning they were almost completely gone!!!! Same again last night/this morning with an added trip to the loo every hour on the half hour!! I'm exhausted!!

22 Nov 07

CHRISTOPHER JOHN IS HERE!!!!

As today is my due date, (started typing this on the 22 Nov!) I think it's only right that I update you while all the details are fresh in my head!

Saturday evening (10th Nov) sitting watching X Factor, I was really short of breath and had an uncomfortable tightness across the top of my bump. I had trouble eating my dinner (obvious sign something was wrong - it was a Chicago Town Pepperoni pizza!!) and just didn't feel 'right'.

DH pestered me to call the maternity ward, but I kept putting him off. Eventually I gave in and called, and they told me to come straight over. We left the house at 8.30pm. On arrival, we were moved to another ward as ours had no spare beds. We actually benefited from the move, as it was to the high dependency ward, and we were well taken care of.

Baby's heart rate, my contractions and blood pressure were continuously monitored through the night. I was hooked up all night to a fetal heart monitor, so got no sleep, while DH snored in the chair next to the bed. While I was melting, DH was freezing, so pinched the cover off the bed, LOL!! At 7am, I got DH to phone my parents to let them know what was happening, but also to ask if they could go and let the poor dog out – she’d been abandoned, poor pup!

The staff were concerned that the baby was showing some signs of distress with each contraction, so the consultant (who had done my amnio – I liked her so was quite please to see a familiar face) did a scan, which showed the amniotic fluid was a bit low and that baby was smaller than we would have expected at this point. She then did an internal examination which showed I was already 2-3cm dilated. She said, let’s get you delivered, and broke my waters, it was now 10am.

In the labour room, I was hooked up to the syntocinon drip and antibiotics for my GBS. I was bouncing away happily on the birthing ball for a couple of hours before I needed the gas and air. The syntocinon was continuously turned up to bring on the contractions stronger, so I was soon asking for the injection – can’t remember if it was pethidine or diamorphine!

Had a very interesting conversation with one of the midwives before needing any of the pain relief. She asked what my feelings on pain relief were, I told her I wasn’t brave and would take whatever was needed. She gave me some very good advice. Gas and air is pumped straight into the room so is on hand the minute you ask for it. Pethidine/diamorphine has to be signed off by two people and takes about 15-20 minutes to kick in, so you’re looking at half an hour before you get the relief. An epidural also needs two people to sign it off and an anaesthetist to be located. By the time the drug has taken effect you are looking at an hour all in. Something to think about!!!

Anyway I had my injection, but unfortunately some of the anti-sickness drug was lost, so there was poor DH running back and forward to get me water as the gas and air was making me so thirsty and drying up my lips like crazy, then fetching a sick bowl for me to throw it all back up again!

By 4pm I couldn’t handle it any longer. I could no longer track the contractions and time my gas and air intake. It felt like I was having one huge contraction! The midwife said an induced labour was a million times more painful than a natural labour, and she would eat her hat if I managed without an epidural!

LOL!!!

So over the next couple of hours, the consultant popped in a few times to check on us. She wasn’t too happy with the EFM, so attached a monitor to bubs head, which was a more accurate way of reading his heart rate. She also took a couple of blood samples from his head too.

By 9.30pm-ish, it was decided to get baby out by forceps. It all felt so surreal! You knew what was happening all day, but to actually know you were going to have your baby in your arms within a few minutes was crazy!!

After three pushes, Christopher John was born at 9.48pm weighing just 5lb 10.5oz. DH and I were literally speechless! The effects of no sleep, all the drugs and just the craziness of the day then took hold, and I could not stop shaking. DH had to hold the wee man for quite some time before I stopped! As soon as I was able to I popped him inside my nightshirt for some skin to skin which was the best feeling ever!

CJ slept by my bed in an incubator that first night and we were then moved to the ward the next morning, where the staff from the high dependency managed to get us a single room. I’m so gad they did, as CJ ended up being taken away to Neonatal for almost 48 hrs, which, if I’d been in a ward would have been really tough!

My milk didn’t come through, and I really wanted to breast feed – it actually didn’t come through for a week. I was managing to hand express a small amount of colostrum into a syringe, but it wasn’t enough. CJ’s blood sugar was all over the place, so I told the midwives I was happy to bottle feed him. Unfortunately this may have been left a bit late as with his jaundice making him sleepy and the fact that he wasn’t feeding, at 2am on the Tuesday morning, he was taken away! I can’t tell you how much I sobbed!! When DH and I went along the next morning to see him, I sobbed again. I knew he was in the best place, but you feel unbelievably helpless! The staff were all fantastic, and I can’t praise them enough. I spent as much time as possible with CJ, but felt guilty about sitting cuddling him when the best place for him was in the incubator. The sooner he was better, the sooner we could get home.

We did eventually get home late Thursday night, and I don’t know where the last couple of weeks have gone!

DH and I are eternally grateful to Dr Willocks, Dr McLellan and all the staff in wards 23, 24 and the neonatal unit of Wishaw General, and of course all the staff at Glasgow Royal Assisted Conception Services, without whom we wouldn’t be the family we longed to be."

Submit your story to marvellousmummies@live.co.uk - please state whether you would like your name and location published otherwise by default you will become 'Anon'.

Anne-Marie's story, East London - attempted robbery didn't even work!

"Well where do I start? I have a condition called SPD - basically my pubic bone splits in pregnancy and I end up in hospital towards the end of my pregnancies and wait for c-sections. Fifth and last pregnancy I was in agony, could no longer walk, couldn't sleep and was put on strong medication. I was taken in because of mild contractions, also on the promise of finding me a slot ASAP. Thirty six plus weeks pregnant my baby was large and ready! A week went past, I was getting tired angry and needed to get out! My husband arrived, I told him the same thing every morning, "might be fitting me in for my section in the morning". We ignored it as it was doctors keeping me sweet.

"John I need to get out for an hour," grinding my teeth, he knew I was in agony emotionally and mentally, so I picked up my crutches and 'escaped'. I shuffled out in my PJs and got in the car. I decided to get some money out of my account for my husband in case of emergency. Went into my credit union to draw some cash out, I was the only customer in there. Anyway, as I'm leaving two masked men decided to rob the place - I had a gun waved in my face, I was in total shock! Anyway they didn't get away with anything but managed to run away. I was rushed straight back to my ward by my husband and just asked to be put on the monitor. The midwife asked why, so I broke down and explained. Baby was fine!! I was so glad. I had to eat that night as I didn't eat anything, just breakfast that morning. I had a hot curry delivered, I polished that off. NOTHING was happening! Absolute shock and a really hot curry was not bothering this baby!

Finally! Two days after the attempted robbery I was taken down late sunday night due to my baby showing some signs of stress! Midwives, doctors and surgeons were amazed that what happened didn't bother my baby!

Baby JJ finally arrived just after 10 o'clock by c-section, 7lb. Not a care in the world, just perfect! Now 6 months old nothing bothers him still, he takes everything in his stride and is such a brilliant baby. He has helped me in a way deal with what happened, he makes everyone smile! NOTHING was going to budge him, he was just too comfortable and warm not even an attempted robbery and a hot curry was going to move him!!"

Submit your story to marvellousmummies@live.co.uk - please state whether you would like your name and location published otherwise by default you will become 'Anon'.

Competition details!

Here they are - details for our mei tai give-away competition sponsored by Marvellous Mei Tais.

1. Re-tweet or recommend through Facebook and invite all your friends and family to enter.

2. 'Follow' the blogs or Facebook pages: Birth Stories by Marvellous Mummies and/or Marvellous Mei Tais / Marvellous Mummies FB and/or Marvellous Mei Tais FB

3. All 'followers' will be assigned an individual number.
4. Entry closes at 11pm on Sunday 13th February 2011.

5. A winner will be chosen via a random number generator.

6. The winner will be announced on the blog and arrangements made for delivery.

GOOD LUCK!

Penny's story, UK - 1 hour labour for first baby

"I had my 1st child when I was 21. As a single mum I was terrified of giving birth but had decided I wanted as natural birth as possible. I was booked in at the midwife unit near my home with the hope of using gas and air only.

The day I went into labour it was extremely hot (August 05). My DD was due 29th August and on the 18th decided to go for a nice long walk with my family. We stopped for ice cream and I noticed that my hands had swollen and for some reason knew today would be the day. I didn't want to worry my mum so I didn't say anything but later decided to have a sleep once we got home as I knew I would need as much energy as possible.

After a 3 hour sleep I woke up with the feel of a pop; my waters had gone. 

I went down the stairs to tell my mum and half way down I was overcome with the most intense pain I had ever felt in my life. After a quick call to the maternity unit we were swiftly on our way. The contractions were coming thick and fast. When we arrived at hospital we tried buzzing but no answer, it was then that I felt the urge to push! Luckily my mum found a chair which I clambered over backwards and desperatlely resisted the urge to push while my mum franticly kept on buzzing. Eventually a very stressed midwife quickly showed us into a room and raced off (a lot of women were in labour that day).

I was climbing the walls with pain at this point and a midwife was sent down from the labour ward upstairs, she assumed that she would just be coming in to examine me and establish how far into labour I was. Well she took one look at me and knew it was imminent after a quick look she realised I was 9cm dilated and ready to go. The poor woman franticly tried to find gas and air and help me the best she could but the cylinder just wouldn't work. It was then that she asked if she could take me upstairs where she knows where everything is.

Wheeling my bed out and into the lift the urge to push was just too much and I had to start pushing much to the horror of the four men coming out of the lift, seconds later we were in a room. Two puffs of gas & air later and my DD was born.

My waters had broken at 6:15pm and she was born at 7:30pm.

A few hours later the original midwife who showed us into the first room came in to see me. She could not apologise enough for not realising how far into labour I was. Bless her she felt terrible. All the midwives were rushed off their feet and they work so, so hard. 

I wouldn't change my birth experience for anything, I'm just glad she wasn't born in the corridor or that lift."

Submit your story to marvellousmummies@live.co.uk - please state whether you would like your name and location published otherwise by default you will become 'Anon'.

Jennie's story, Birmingham - home water birth using hypnobirthing

"Positive Birth Story – Home Water Birth using Hypnobirthing

Baby S born 7th April 2010 weighing 7lbs 15oz 

My due date was Thursday 8th April and on Tuesday 6th April OH had the day off work so that we could attend my grandmother’s funeral. Family members had 'joked' that the stress of such a day might trigger early labour. 

Having got through the service and wake feeling emotional but generally OK, I was having pretty regular Braxton hicks and we decided to take a short walk in the park later in the afternoon. We sat down to enjoy a cup of tea and a cake in the tea shop and I felt a different sensation in my bump which was more like a strong stitch. We took this as a signal to get home and comfortable, ordered a takeaway curry for dinner and caught up on my daily allowance of raspberry leaf tea. 

Lying on the sofa watching TV at about 11pm I felt a slight popping low down and to the front of my bump which felt like a little bubble bursting. I wondered whether this was my waters but couldn’t feel anything. Five or so minutes later I went to the toilet and realised that I did not have control of the fluid that was coming out. After sitting on the toilet for a few minutes I started to let myself believe that this was it and that my waters really had broken. 

I called the birth centre and the midwife on call said she would come out and see me within the next hour or so to assess what was going on. As we had planned a home water birth we had a pool to inflate and I had been anxious about the noise using the electric pump late at night so OH got on with inflating the pool while I relaxed in bed listening to the affirmations and rainbow relaxation CD (Hypnobirthing) on repeat. The midwife arrived sometime in between 12.30am and 1am and having checked my pads confirmed that my waters had broken, advised me to go to bed and get some rest and reassured me that for most women whose waters break early, labour starts within 24 hours. She also explained that if it didn’t, I would need to have antibiotics after about 18 hours and they would want to induce me after 24. She told me to call again when my contractions were coming every 5 minutes or so. 

With the birth pool inflated and the hot water boost on, we went to bed. I was listening to the affirmations and rainbow relaxation CD on my iPod when I experienced what I later realised was my first surge (contraction). The only way I can describe what this felt like was as if I was desperate for the toilet and had been holding it in for too long. I went to the toilet then got back into bed and dozed on and off for a couple of hours with the CD on my iPod and surges coming and going. 

By about 3.30am I found that breathing and relaxing whilst lying down during surges was becoming difficult and I was more comfortable moving around or sitting on the toilet so I was continually going back and forth to the bathroom. At about 4am I came into the lounge, lit some candles, put the affirmations and rainbow on the stereo and used the tens machine and birthing ball through each contraction. OH then got up at about 6am and started to prepare the room, laying shower curtains underneath towels to cover our (light cream!!) carpet and sofa and began to fill the pool as we knew this would take some time due to our small water tank! 

For the next couple of hours we continued like this, me leaning over the birthing ball and gradually increasing the power on the TENS machine as my surges got stronger. I was also timing my surges using 'Contraction Master' App. on OH’s iPhone. In hindsight, although this gave me something to focus on during this time, I think it did prevent me from fully relaxing and going inwards and I was always conscious of having an 'aim' of stronger, longer and closer together surges and checking my progress. 

During each surge I was trying to visualise a green balloon in my abdomen, inflating with each inhalation and having this to focus on was helpful although I did find that once each surge got stronger I had to breathe through my mouth rather than my nose and inhalations became more challenging. 

At approximately 8am-8.30am I called the midwife as my surges were now coming regularly every 5-6 minutes and were lasting anywhere between 30-90 seconds by my calculations. At this point I felt like I needed OH with me during surges and in between filling the pool with pans of hot water he came and massaged my back and pressed my shoulder (which had been a relaxation anchor we had learned and practiced at hypnobirthing) and reminded me of what we had been practicing in terms of breathing and relaxing. 

The midwife arrived sometime between 9am-9.30am bringing a student with her. She asked me some questions about the timing of my waters breaking, etc. and observed me during surges for about 30 minutes, feeling my bump and assessing how I was progressing. At this point she said that although I was having 3 in 10, I was not in established labour yet and told me that the surges would get a lot stronger than they were at that point. She said that they were going to leave me to it and to call her once I was regularly having 3 in 10 surges that were 60 seconds long. I asked her when I could get into the pool and was told that I needed to stay out of the pool until I was in established labour and there was a midwife present. In the meantime she said that I could have a bath if I felt that I would benefit from it. 

As soon as the midwives left I felt the need to move so I went and sat on the toilet. From this point the surges seemed to get quite intense and I was calling for OH to massage my back each time. I had started to tense up and OH was pushing my shoulders down with each surge and reminding me to breath. I stayed sitting on the toilet for about 30 minutes while OH filled the bath. At this point it felt like I wasn’t getting much of a break in between surges and they were feeling quite intense. As soon as I was able to, OH helped me into the bath and although the heat of the water was soothing in between surges, almost instantly they became much stronger and I felt a pressure pushing down which was uncomfortable whilst lying or sitting so I was lifting myself up with each surge while OH massaged and poured water over my back. In total I remained in the bath for about 30 minutes and during this time I first started to feel my body pushing. I told OH that it felt like my body wanted me to push and we both felt like I should be trying not to do that and to just focus on breathing. 

During the whole of my labour, this was the only point that I doubted myself and my ability to relax and have a positive experience. Not because of the sensations I was feeling but because I was remembering that the midwife had said that I wasn’t in established labour yet, that the babies head was only 3/5 engaged and that I would probably have a while to go yet. Had I realised that I was actually in transition at that point and that I was nearly there, I am sure I would have felt differently. As it was I was experiencing very intense surges and thought that I would have several hours ahead of me with worse to cope with. 

At about 11.30am I told OH that I needed to get into the pool despite having been told by the midwives that I shouldn’t. I just knew that I needed deeper water to get more comfortable and as soon as I had the opportunity I did just that. Getting into the deeper water so that I could lean over the edge of the pool and still have my bump and lower back submerged was a huge relief. At this point OH was calling the midwife, boiling water for the pool and simultaneously trying to massage and pour water over my back. He told the midwife that things had progressed quite quickly and during the time he was on the phone, the midwife was able to hear me during a surge and said that she would come over straight away. In terms of the noises I was making, OH described it as a “wail” I certainly wasn’t screaming or shouting and I don’t think I had any control over it. I never panicked or felt like I couldn’t carry on, just had to keep moving with each surge and I was still really benefiting from having water poured over my back and OH massaging me. Although my surges were very intense at this stage and I could feel my body pushing the baby down, I still wouldn’t describe this as the agonising pain that most women talk about and I think this is due to the fact that I was not at all scared and I was just letting my body do what it needed to do. 

The midwife arrived at 12 noon still with the student and has later told me that she was very frustrated that I was already in the pool when she had told me not to get in until she got there. She was also concerned that there wasn’t quite enough water in the pool and I could hear the panic in her voice as she looked down, saw the baby crowning and called the second midwife on the phone and told her to come quickly. I heard her saying to the student “this baby is coming now” and telling OH to get more water. She asked me whether I wanted her to order any gas and air and I replied yes as this was what we had discussed previously although I don’t honestly think that I would have used it, even if it had arrived in time! 

As the baby was on his way out, the midwife was struggling to get me to stand up to monitor the heart rate and surges were coming thick and fast. She was fantastic as although I had never spoken to her in detail about hypno birthing and breathing the baby out, she never once asked me to push, she just kept telling me to breath and to let my body do what it wants to do. I kept remembering the J breath and although I wasn’t able to do this quite as quietly and calmly as I had practiced, I did find it incredibly beneficial to breath in very quickly then blow out the exhalation as slowly as possible. Doing this and being guided by the midwife, the baby's head came out and stayed out at either 12.12pm or 12.15pm (I can’t remember exactly!). I could feel that the head was out and the midwife told me to just relax and wait for the next surge so his body could turn. With the next surge his body slipped out, the midwife guided him through my legs and helped me to sit backwards so that I could lift him out of the water in front of me. He was born at 12.17pm no more than 17 minutes after the midwife had arrived back at the flat! The second midwife arrived at 12.25 while I was still in the pool holding baby S who was alert and looking around very calmly at this point, turning his head when he heard either mine or OH’s voice (adorable!).

After a few more minutes of skin to skin in the water, I was helped out and onto the floor, propped up by lots of cushions and pillows to deliver the placenta. Baby S stayed with me during this time as I wanted the cord to stay attached until it had stopped pulsing. After 30 minutes or so, it had stopped so the midwife clamped it and cut it (OH didn’t really want to do this) and the placenta was delivered naturally shortly afterwards. 

The gas and air arrived at about this point and the midwife decided to keep it in case I needed stitches but when I was examined it turned out I didn’t need any. 

The midwives cleared up everything except the pool, even asking where I keep the cleaning products so she could scrub up a spot of blood off the carpet! They did their initial checks on Baby S, weighing him etc then left us to it. OH had some time with him skin to skin before I moved to the bedroom and got comfy. OH spent the next hour or so clearing everything away and putting all of the furniture back into place then we had a few hours in bed, just the three of us, relaxing, having lovely skin to skin cuddles with Baby S and talking about what an amazing experience we had just had.

Unfortunately later that evening Baby S started to show signs of being poorly and we did end up taking him into hospital but we were so pleased to have been able to give him a calm and relaxed water-birth at home and I personally felt rather proud of the fact that all my hypno birthing practice had paid off!!!

Having spoken to the midwife since, she said she couldn’t believe that this was my first baby and how well I had coped with the whole labour. She said that when she had seen me first that morning, the fact that I was so calm during surges was one of the reasons that she felt I was not in established labour and because I had not had an internal examination we would never know whether I was much further on than she had thought at that time or whether I had just progressed very quickly from that point onwards.

Although I didn’t have as calm an experience as we had witnessed on the DVDs in hypnobirthing class, I had an incredibly positive experience. It was very intense at times and I couldn’t say that it was totally pain free but it certainly wasn’t the agony that I had initially feared. I was in control throughout and I attribute this to the positive mindset brought about by regular practice and listening to the affirmations daily. The breathing techniques, massage, water and support from OH were all I needed in terms of pain relief."

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Melissa's story, Darlington - baby number 2, home birth

"2nd baby - 14/01/05 - Home Birth

I knew straight away that I wanted our 2nd baby at home.

This time, we were settled in our own home and since being pleasantly surprised by my 1st birth, knew it was the right thing to do for our little family. Gas and air bottles were delivered and I picked up a prescription of Pethidine to keep in the fridge in case I needed it.

So, yet another normal, problem free pregnancy saw me to my due date of Thursday 13th January.

I remember sitting down that night and watching Question Time - feeling my first contraction during shouting at the TV! Didn't think anything of it and just like the 1st baby, went to bed for a sleep.

Didn't wake at all through the night, woke normally at breakfast time and felt contractions were coming quite close together. Called the midwife quite early who came out to the house and examined me, I wasn't quite as far along as I first thought so she left again and told us to call her once they got a bit closer together and longer.

In the meantime, my husband took our now 4 1/2 year old Alex to nursery and my Mum came over to the house.

I sat on my big, bouncy birth ball in my lounge and watched TV - just rocking back and forth through contractions and chatting to my Mum in between them.

By 12pm, husband had picked up Alex from nursery and contractions were quite close and long so midwife came back and brought 2nd midwife who just happened to be an old childhood friend of my husband, aswell as a student midwife!

The next time they examined me I was 8cm and felt like I need to be on my bed. As I did so, the midwives had to bully me into going for a wee as it seemed to preventing me from getting to 10cm! So I went and had a wee, when I came back they broke my waters and bang! I was 10cm!

Ready to push I felt like trying a bit of the gas and air again, just for fun! It was great but only had a couple of mouthfuls before baby's head was out.

All the while, in my room, were the 3 midwives, my husband, my Mum and my little boy (he was lying on the bed next to me).

At 3pm and after just a few pushes, our little girl Maisie Natasja was born, weighing a whopping 9lb 6oz! My son was the 1st to see her head (apart from midwives) and he was just the proudest big brother ever!

Again, no stitches, no tears, nothing - simple, straightforward, relaxed birth.

Now I sit here on my due date with baby number 3 - I hope that this next home birth is just as nice and easy - it better be as I haven't even bothered ordering the Pethidine this time!"

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Melissa's story, Darlington - relaxed birth with pool and gas and air

"1st baby - 18/09/00 - Hospital

I was just 20, had been with my boyfriend (now husband) for just 9 months when we discovered I was pregnant.

Due on the 21st September (our respective Grandmother's birthdays!) we moved out of our 1 bed rented flat on the 16th September and into my Mother in Laws until the contract was signed on the 3 bed house we had bought.

Clearly, moving house shifted things and the following day, whilst having Sunday lunch at my boyfriend's Aunt's, I felt my first contractions. I only know now, that's what they were, at the time I just thought it was a bit of stomach ache.

We went to bed that night, at this point I thought that perhaps something was happening after I had terrible diahorrea.

Woke up in quite a bit of pain in the early hours and went downstairs to watch the rowing on the Olympics! At the time, we were in the middle of a fuel crisis and so getting hold of taxis to get us to hospital was somewhat of a challenge. Luckily, my boyfriend's uncle had some fuel in his car and took us through to the hospital at about breakfast time.

As soon as I got there, I went straight into the birth pool. I knew I wanted to try this but I also went in with an open mind and would've had any drug going had I needed it.

My Mum and my (then 17yr old) sister travelled the 20 miles to the hospital to be there as soon as possible.

I'd sayed in the pool as long as possible with no other pain relief but suddenly got the urge to be on dry land. I got out and onto the bed where I was examined - I have no idea how far along I was at this point but it was pretty close to 10cm. It was at this point, when I got the urge to push, that I felt I needed a bit of gas and air.

Didn't much grasp the breathing in and out with the gas and air but the mouthpiece was great to bite down on!

Apparently the pushing part took a fair while, and at 12:55pm - just a few hours after arriving, our little boy, Alexander Regan was born just as the clouds parted and the sun came out. He weighed a very healthy 8lb 11oz and had done no damage to my nether regions!

All in all, it was a very relaxed birth."

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Jane's brother's story, Warwickshire (2nd baby) - brother's perspective, almost unassisted home birth!

"Delivering my nephew

By seven o'clock on Friday morning my sister Jane's contractions were coming every four minutes. Her daughter, Aimee, arrived in just four hours and as second babies are faster the hospital had recommended not even trying to move - the midwife would come to her. But four minutes wasn't critical yet - there was time to get people in place. So she phoned my Mum, who headed over to the house, promising to call me and Dad when things were properly kicking off.

Twenty-five minutes later she arrived to find Jane in full-on labour. This was happening fast. Mum called the hospital, then let me and Dad know to come over right away. And at this point I was full of the joys of life. When Aimee was born I headed to the hospital and after 20mins was taken in to see my beaming sister holding my new niece. It was lovely. So, being male and naive, this time I drove over with a big smile on my face. And then I walked in the door to see Jane in screaming agony on all fours on the lounge floor, and everything stopped being fun. But it got worse: there was no sign of the midwife, and Mum had just spotted the baby's head becoming visible and dialled 999.

I've obviously seen births on TV. And I remember a no-holds-barred video in GCSE science. But these didn't involve my sister. I couldn't comprehend the pain she was in, and everything was happening incredibly quickly. But there was no time to think. Mum was relaying seriously important instructions from 999: "support the head", which my Dad rushed to do, and then, "if the head's in place, she has to push". I went to help.

Jane later said the instruction to push was redundant - she had no choice. The contractions came and she pushed with everything she had. And the baby's head was crowning. And nothing was coming. And more contractions came. And Jane's screaming. And there's still nothing happening. And then the midwife's car pulls up at the end of the drive. And the midwife only has to get out of her car and into the house. But it's all happening now and there's another contraction and Jane's in agony I can't even imagine and the baby's head comes out. And Dad's there and in control and holding it. And the head is the colour of ash. And we're all in shock. And Jane's boyfriend rushes out to the drive shouting, "he's coming out!". And the midwife is running. And Jane has one final contraction and my nephew, Benjamin Ian Walker, slips out into the world, and I catch him. And Mum's relaying the biggest, most important 999 instruction of them all: "don't drop the baby!". And he's grey and red and still. And the blue cord is around his neck. And I start pulling it off but I don't know what I'm doing or whether this is the right thing to do but all I can see is a cord around his neck and then the midwife's there and we get the cord off and he starts crying.

We lowered him onto the floor, and the midwife took over. She cut the cord (I later found out it wasn't looped around his neck, just caught from the back) and after a quick check on the baby it's all Jane, who just gave birth without pain relief in 1 hour and 40 minutes and needs serious attention. But she's doing ok, if shell-shocked and hurting. Dad and I had been in the room for maybe seven minutes.

We both later admitted that the relief at seeing the midwife's car arrive was tinged with a slight disappointment. We were both there, after all, and all ready for the event, but it didn't seem likely everything would happen in the next 10 seconds. But it did. Dad did a brilliant job supporting Ben's head throughout, which was the most important thing: Ben's middle name is after his grandfather.

Two more midwives arrived, and Jane was patched up while Ben happily went to sleep in his little white romper suit. Mum made tea and we passed him around - I had a hold, which was nice as I'd been too scared to with Aimee (nowhere to sit down in case I dropped her). He was 3.67kg - about 8 pounds 1 ounce.

I was shaking for quite a long time. And my jumper needed a wash. But it was a hell of a morning.

Jane was amazing throughout. I don't know how you come out of that with such poise and elegance. And somehow, unbelievably, she never actually swore. Congratulations, sis - you did good.

Note: I have read articles in which people get sniffy about women who request c-sections. Other than an aversion to sniffy commentators, I've never formed any particular opinion on this matter. Now I have, and those people can, to put it in the politest possible terms, go screw themselves. The evolutionary hackjob that is childbirth is way more brutal than I could possibly have imagined. I mean, holy mother of god. I am now and for evermore entirely in favour of women having any and all help they want."

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Jane's story, Warwickshire - straight forward labour and birth, 1st baby

"Sunday 23rd September 2007

At 3:30am I woke up really needing the toilet, so I got out of bed and went. Once I had sat on the toilet I noticed I had blood in my underwear. I went back to bed to tell Nick, who was asleep at the time and wasn’t really conscious of what I was saying. I decided to try going back to sleep as I wasn’t in any pain.

At 4:20am I heard and felt a pop, which I had read other mothers had felt as their waters broke, so I quickly made my way to the toilet again - I made it just in time. This time Nick knew something was wrong as he had never seen me move so fast. Nick went to have a cigarette whilst I had my first contraction. As he entered the kitchen and switched on the lights a bulb blew the fuse which put the house into darkness. He eventually found the fuse and turned on the lights again.

As I was still able to talk through the contractions Nick advised me to call the hospital and find out what they would recommend. The nurse I spoke to suggested that we make our way in to be examined as my waters had broken. I also phoned Mum as she was my other birthing partner. She said she would get herself dressed and would wait for a phone call from Nick once we had got to the hospital.

At about 05:15am we started the journey to the hospital. Nick made the decision that we should get Mum to come to the hospital as he felt things were progressing quickly; so I gave her a call.

We arrived at the hospital at about 05:45am. Luckily the nurses on the main reception desk let us go through the short cut to the labour ward. On arrival we were taken into the labour room and introduced to the midwife. She examined me and informed us that I was 3cm dilated. She then attached me to the machine that would monitor the baby’s heartbeat. My Mum had now arrived and was able to support me through the contractions. The contractions became very close together so the midwife attached the TENS machine to my back. I pressed the button like I was meant to on all my contractions, yet never felt anything from it. I was then put on the gas and air, which I ended up overdosing on and so they took it off me again. I then had to rely on the TENS machine. Through all the contractions I only felt the electrodes in my back on one of them. At this point I informed everyone in the room that it was working.

At some point there was a shift change and I had two more midwifes to get to know. After a couple more contractions they wanted to examine me again. So I lay on the bed and was informed that I was 10cm dilated and ready to push. My dad arrived at this point and was there to hold my hand and Nick hold my other hand.

After much pushing I was asked if I wanted to feel the head, which I did. I needed an episiotomy in order for the head to come out.

At 8:53am Aimee was born and was placed on me whilst the placenta was delivered. At this point my brother, Andrew, was called in so he could meet his new niece and also take photos. Aimee was then cleaned up and given to Nick whilst I received my stitches. At this point Mum, Dad and Andrew went to the café for refreshments. I was placed on a drip as I lost 500ml of blood during the labour which was close to a haemorrhage. Once the stitches were done I was able to give Aimee her first feed on the breast. She took to it very well.

After I ate some breakfast I was then cleaned up and moved to the ward. I was originally informed that I would be on a 6 hour discharge as I had had no problems. However due to staff levels we were not discharged until 16:30pm on Monday 24th September 2007."

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Anon's story, UK - overdue relatively 'easy' labour

"I am 26 and my partner is 34. We started trying for a baby in September 2009 and I fell pregnant on Boxing Day! My due date was Sep 25th and I was due to have a stretch and sweep on Oct 4th which I wasn't too keen on but I tried to stay as calm as I could and just let things happen naturally especially as it was our first baby.

On October 3rd 2010 I went for a wee after waking up and felt some strong period pain type twinges in my stomach. I got washed and dressed into my specially chosen most comfortable outfit for travelling to the hospital in (not that I'm over organised you understand!) and went downstairs to get some breakfast. We already knew we were having a boy and had already chosen a name so I spent all morning talking to 'Ollie' and asking him if he was ready to come and meet us yet.

I managed to eat 2 crumpets and have a cup of tea before being completely shattered and then had to have a lie down on my sofa - how glad am I now that I bought a wipe clean faux leather sofa!! At around 11am I called the maternity ward to see if this was the start of labour!

They advised me it quite possibly was but that it could all calm down again and not progress so there was little point going into the ward and being bored. I decided to just stay put and ring again if I felt that I was getting anywhere.

During parenting classes it had been often mentioned that the more mobile you can be the easier labour may be, so I duly paced the lounge and hall, pressing my forehead against my fists on a wall and leaning to get me through each contraction. My best friend was due over for coffee and she duly arrived, she said I was eerily quiet, the staying mobile was sapping all my energy and seeing her laughing at the red marks on my face from leaning was enough for me to give up and lie down again. She said I was the quietest she has ever known me she left soon after - I think she was a little spooked. I'm never quiet!

My partner was cooking a roast and I decided I wasn't going to be able to eat it. We rang my friend and asked her to come back to eat the lamb dinner. She came back and her and my partner sat down in our dining room for a lovely Sunday roast whilst I massaged my stomach cramps and then started to be sick! After they had eaten and spent the WHOLE time popping in and out checking on me, why I do not know as I was still flat out on the sofa, she decided to go again and left us with strict instructions to call if we needed ferrying to hospital.

At 3pm my partner decided I should put my TENS machine on otherwise I'd get no benefit from it. I cannot stress how much I believe this did for me; I found this a really effective pain relief. At 5.30pm I was still being quite sick and thought I may be going into full blown labour, so after speaking to the ward again they also agreed and asked me to make my way in.

It took around 30 minutes to leave the house as my contractions were quite strong so I had to keep stopping to breathe through them and press the boost button on my TENS. I rested on the gates at the bottom of our drive for around 10 mins, the neighbours must have been having a field day!

I found it hard to sit properly in the car as I felt like I was pushing the baby back in in a sense and so I had to sit on one hip but still clutching my TENS boost button! We made the 20 minute journey to the hospital and I again had a long wait outside to let a contraction pass before making it up to the ward and being buzzed in.

I was settled into a delivery suite and pretty much left too it, which was lovely - I envisaged nurses running around and Drs bugging me and instead they were there but only in the background and the whole experience was very calm and tranquil and it almost felt like only my partner and I were there. At about 7pm they told me that the TENS would no longer really be having an effect as I was so far into labour now and they wanted to check me out. They announced I was 8-10cm dilated and I should get into a top or gown to birth in. Around this time they gave me Entinox and we prepared to start concentrating on getting our baby out.

I hadn't felt my waters go and suddenly I felt something going on, apparently my baby had meconium-ed prior to delivery - this now meant rather than birthing on one side I would have to be on my back with a monitor attached, as sometimes this can be a sign of the baby being in stress. STRESS! I was about to stress... I had read a book which had described labour as 'popping a large watermelon out of your bum whilst simultaneously poking yourself with hot pokers, then times it by a thousand'. Quite why I decided to read this just before my due date I'll never know, however this was the only phrase I could bring to mind and now I was about to start bearing down!

The midwife stayed with us now and my friend had left after having the unfortunate front seat for my 'check' and seeing more than she had bargained for. My mother had arrived and was delighted when we said she could stay for the labour - this would be her first grandchild. After deciding I was concentrating too much on the Entinox the midwife took it away again... I had done 3 pushes by now.

The midwife said she wanted me to work with her so I woudn't tear, to do this she would tell me when to stop pushing. For anyone who has given birth I am sure you will agree half way through a push it is nigh impossible to stop pushing, anyhow I tried. I ended up spending about 5 minutes apologising for not being able to stop pushing. I asked for the Entinox back as I was finding the pushing quiet painful which they couldn't understand as I had already birthed the head, but I was struggling with the shoulders. One last push and all I could see were 2 white/grey hands in between my legs and some beautiful long fingers wriggling around!!!

I started with tummy ache at 9am and gave birth at 20.53pm to a 7lb 9oz little boy. I must admit on the whole it was an uncomfortable experience - the actual labour but not excruciating, hence women have more than one baby! I found the cramping/contractions uncomfortable as no matter how hard I massaged they still came strong and hard. And for me it didn't all get forgotten about as soon as I was holding him. My mother cut the cord and they gave me a injection to deliver the placenta. They checked over Ollie and did all the necessary little tests and then disappeared again.

Once we had Oliver we were left again to bond as a family which was lovely. We took photos, I got comfortable, my brother came in to see him and then I was bought tea and toast. Unfortunately after eating one piece I was violently sick which again is apparently normal. My little boy had very long fingernails and although I had not torn I was scratched internally and they could do nothing about that so when I was told to have a bath I found this very painful and had to get straight back out.

When I went up to the ward around 1am and my partner was sent home I finally had an overwhelming feeling of just how responsible I was for this tiny little bundle.I was checked out by the nurses and advised if I didn't have a wee that they could see I would have to have a catheter fitted. I soon managed to have a wee although the cardboard jug given to me to do the deed in so they could measure it had sprung a leak so I ran/waddled back to the ward to get a nurse to come and see before it leaked all over the bathroom floor in the fear that if it all leaked away I'd be made to have a catheter anyway!! A night of no sleep and staring at the beautiful bundle beside me then began. By 10am the next morning my partner was back and we were off home.

As this was my first baby I had no understanding of an easy labour, I still don't really as I have nothing to compare it too however I have heard other birth stories and can see how easy I did have it. I think everyone's different and ordinarily I have a very low pain threshold but something took over in me and I was wonder woman for a small part of one day and for me that was all I needed!"

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Helen's story, Manchester - really positive, 'easy' birth

"My pregnancy was pretty straight forward with no problems apart from the usual low blood pressure, anaemia, etc. I loved having a bump and enjoyed being able to eat whatever (and however much!) I wanted. I worked up until 36 weeks and left work feeling on top of the world and wondering if perhaps I had left a little too early.

The first three weeks of my maternity leave were chilled out and ! was pretty active, going shopping and meeting friends for lunch most days. I enjoyed my penultimate weekend before my due date at my parents' house in the North East, being run around after by my Mum and seeing friends for the last time as non-Mummy!

The week before my due date felt much different - every day I got a little more uncomfortable and began running out of comfy positions. I found it harder and harder to sleep each night and eventually even my sacred place, the bath, was uncomfortable to be in. I felt miserable in the few days before my due date and spent almost three days in bed watching TV and feeling sorry for myself. I'd been having period-like pains for about two weeks but had realised by now that they meant nothing. I felt like I was coming down with a bad cold and my sister-in-law had called me saying that's how she'd felt a couple of days before she gave birth. I ignored her comments and decided not to get my hopes up, as she'd also gone 12 days overdue!

My baby was due on Thursday 14th October 2010 and after feeling totally rubbish since the Monday, being told by all my friends and family that I'd probably go overdue wasn't really helping my mood. On the Wednesday I spent the day in bed again but decided to haul myself up in time for my boyfriend getting in from work. I thought I should try and make a little bit of effort so I cheered myself up a bit by doing my make-up and hair and giving myself a French manicure. I threw on a t-shirt and some Uggs and went and sat on the sofa while my nails dried. My period-like pains seemed a little stronger that day but I knew this probably meant nothing. I kept getting crampy feelings around my ovaries too. These kept coming and going for a few hours but weren't particularly painful.

At around 6pm on Wednesday evening the cramps seemed to get a little stronger and ever so slightly more regular. I timed a few just to put my mind at ease but after about five I realised that there was no pattern to the pains so stopped timing. They kept coming and by the time my boyfriend got in at half seven I was pacing the living room. He was excited but I was adamant that the pains weren't contractions. They didn't feel like people had described so I figured they must just be Braxton Hicks.

At about 10pm by boyfriend decided maybe we should have a bath as it could help with the pains, then I could go to bed nice and relaxed. We squished in the bath together and he timed a few of my cramps but still there was no pattern to them. After about 20 minutes I got out of the bath to get ready for bed. I went into the bedroom and sat on my bed on a towel while I struggled to reach over my huge bump to put some knickers on. When I stood up I noticed quite a bit of blood on the towel and (obviously) panicked! I rang my Mum with shaking hands and she told me it'd be fine but to give the hospital a quick call anyway just to see what they thought. The hospital told me to pop in just to double check everything was OK. I didn't feel worried anymore, more inconvenienced that we had to go out at 11 o'clock at night when all I wanted to do was go to bed!!

My boyfriend and I threw on some clothes and his parents came to pick us up to drive us to the hospital. I wasn't going to take my hospital bag but my boyfriend threw it into the car 'just in case'. All I kept saying in the car on the way there was, "we'll be home in an hour, we'll be home in an hour"...

My pains were getting stronger and were coming much more often than before. My boyfriend's Mum was sure I was in labour but I was still in denial. When we got to the hospital my boyfriend and I went through to a room where they hooked me up to a machine that monitors the baby's heartbeat. I sat in there for about an hour with my cramps getting stronger and stronger but they still weren't particularly painful, more uncomfortable. A nurse came to examine me and we were all astonished to hear that I was 7cm dilated!!! Well, they whipped me through to the delivery suite quick smart and into a beautiful room with a lovely LOVELY midwife called Erika. My boyfriend ran off to tell his Mum and Dad to go home as they'd be waiting a long time otherwise, and I excitedly rang my Mum and whispered, "the baby's coming!"

I accepted the gas and air they offered me to ease my now slightly painful 'contractions' and sat on the edge of the bed swinging my legs and chatting happily to my midwife. She couldn't believe how fast everything was going considering it was my first baby and it was a boy (and we all know that boys are known to be lazy buggers!) I had asked her if she thought I'd need an epidural but her response was, "if you were going to need one you'd have asked for one by now" - and I felt fine! Although my carefully thought out Birthing Plan went right out of the window - it was all going far too fast to be having a water birth! The thing that struck me most at the time was how fine I felt in between contractions. They eventually got pretty strong and obviously very painful but in between I felt on top of the world!

I was perched on the edge of the bed sucking on my gas & air and giggling in between each contraction for a while before my midwife explained that the baby's heartbeat had slowed down a bit and I should lie down. Within seconds I was surrounded my doctors, nurses and midwives and was being examined again. I think the baby was trying to get out but couldn't because I was sitting down! The next hour or so was a blur as I was examined, my waters were broken and the baby's head needed to be scratched to check the oxygen in his blood. I was still surrounded by medical staff and by this time I was asking for some Diamorphine. My feet were in and out of stirrups as they turned me from my back to my side then onto my back again. At one point I asked to go back on my side with my knees in the stirrups as I found it rather comfy and was ready for a nap! But no such luck, the baby was coming and there was no time for sleeps just yet. I remember looking at the clock and it was 3:15am - "I know it's a silly question but how long do you think I've got left?" I asked Erika. "He'll be here within the hour," she replied. "Wow", I thought, "I can do this!!"

Erika was almost spot on. I pushed for about ten minutes and with the help of my darling boyfriend and the amazing midwives, my beautiful baby boy Finn was born at 4:24am on Thursday 14th October 2010 (on his due date!!) weighing 8lbs 7oz.

My boyfriend cut the cord and had skin-to-skin contact with his little baby son while I went into theatre for stitches (yep, thats how bad my tear was! - ouch!).

The staff at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester were utterly amazing and I feel I owe everything to Erika, my midwife. My boyfriend was incredible throughout the whole labour and I feel so, so proud of myself for getting through it with no epidural and no tears!! I feel so lucky to have had such a relatively straight-forward and easy labour, especially for a first-timer. I would go through it again tomorrow if I could - it was the most magical, special, beautiful thing I've ever experienced and all the pain goes away the second you lay eyes on your perfect little baby.

I'm glad I was able to share my story with you, as it is so special to me and I'd shout it from the rooftops if I thought people would listen!! I hope that someone who is scared of giving birth reads about my experience and feels more confident about doing it. I know it's a different experience for everyone, but for some people it can go pretty smoothly!"

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Lauren's story, Coventry - unplanned home birth!

"My unexpected home birth!

So, its Thursday 21st January 2010, 4 long days over my due date and I have an antenatal appointment with my midwife. I sit and wait to see my midwife and finally go in about an hour late and she can tell I am about at the end of my tether, she does her usual checks and all seems well with baby number 2. She then offers me a stretch and sweep (joy) so I immediately accept. I never had one the first time as baby number 1 was early, and it really hurt!! In a haze of pain I vaguely remember my midwife saying that I was 2cms but at this point that did not go in as I had a very dull ache in my tummy, like a period pain that was all I could think about. The midwife said to me she had definitely dislodged my 'plug' and that hopefully this would be the start of my labour. I leave the midwife with everything crossed (well not my legs as I really, really wanted this baby out!) and still with the ache in my tummy, I get in the car and go home to my Mr who is waiting to go to work and my lovely daughter who is waiting for her tea. I had a quick conversation with my Mr before he shot off to work and told him what the midwife had done and that I had this pain in my lower tummy but he didn't really get it and went off to work. I carried on as normal, made mine and my daughter's tea, washed up, etc. I had a phone call from my sister about 6pm as she had been ringing everyday since a week before my due date as she was desperate to meet her new niece and I explained to her what had happened and having 2 children herself, she assured me I was on my way.

By 8pm the period type pain in my tummy had gone and I was soooo disappointed as I thought I was on my way to finally having my baby so I went to bed (in a strop) as normal. My Mr worked 2pm-10pm shift at that time so by the time he had got in from work and watched telly for a bit and whatever else he does before bed it was exactly 1:30 am when he came to bed as I remember waking up and looking at the clock. He got into bed and nodded straight off but I was awake now so I sat up to go to the toilet. I suddenly felt a bit of a 'gush' and I thought my waters had gone so I shuffled along the landing to the toilet to try and see if they had but as I sat down I had my first contraction. It was short and sharp and not too bad so I tried to carry on trying to go to the toilet when the 2nd contraction came, again short and sharp so I called out for my Mr who was sound asleep and couldn't hear me the first time! I shouted him until he woke up in typical man style, 'what, what, what's going on?' and I told him what had happened. He lies there for a minute while I get off the toilet and attempt to shuffle back down the landing when another contraction comes. I get back into the bedroom and another comes. My Mr soon sits up in bed and starts to take notice when I start shouting, 'ow, ow, ow, ow'! I tell him to start timing my contractions to see how long and how fast they are coming. Well I then have a huge contraction that just came out of the blue, nothing like the short sharp ones I had been having only minutes before. I tell my Mr to ring the babysitter (who was coming to look after my eldest daughter while we were at the hospital) and he replies with, 'are you sure it's time?'. I shout at him that yes I am sure, so he gets on the phone and starts ringing when another big contraction comes and I'm shouting again in pain and he says I have to go downstairs as the last thing we needed was our eldest waking up (suppose he was right). So I waddle down the stairs and make it to the bathroom downstairs just as another big contraction comes and I remember hanging off the door frame as my Mr is running down the stairs on the phone to the babysitter whilst throwing clothes on. He comes to me in the bathroom and says he is going to get the babysitter and he would be as quick as he could, as I have another contraction. I tell him I'm running a bath because that's what they tell you to do to ease the pain and I tell him to go and be as quick as he could. So off he goes and in the bath I get with contractions coming quicker and longer with every one.

It feels like an eternity has passed and he is still not back so I ring him to see where he is and he has only just got there to pick her up!!! So I scream at him to hurry up as I'm having a contraction as I'm on the phone and I slightly over react by telling him I'm 'dying' and that he needs to hurry up. I decide in between contractions that I would ring the maternity ward at the hospital and let them know what's going on and to ask their opinion. Well a very nice midwife answered just as I'm having yet another contraction and I have to let that pass before I can speak again. The lovely midwife on the other end tells me to get to the hospital as soon as I could so they could check me over. I thank her for her help and hang up from her and get out of the bath as I feel that I need to go to the toilet. As I get up out of the bath I notice that the bath has gone green but another contraction comes and I'm starting to feel out of it from the pain so that doesn't really go in. I now know that was probably when my waters went when I was in the bath, not when I was upstairs as originally thought. I make it to the toilet and I have this overwhelming urge to push so I do a little bit and I reach down and I can feel my baby's head!!! So I phone my Mr again to see where he is and he tells me he has just pulled back onto the drive and that he's home. He rushes in to me in the bathroom and I tell him to ring an ambulance because I can feel baby's head and that I am starting to push. He again asks if I'm sure for the second time that night and I scream that I am sure and show him all the blood that is all over the bathroom floor and he goes a bit of a funny colour and grabs the phone. By this time I'm practically out of it because of the pain that I'm in from the contractions and I only vaguely remember this part.

I remember my Mr running back into the bathroom on the phone and telling me to lie down; I do so by lying on the bathmat and then I get cramp in my leg and cant open my legs so he can't see what's going on down there. I remember him telling the person on the other end of the phone I couldn't open my legs because of the cramp, God knows what they said but I remember him pulling my legs open and him saying, 'I can see the head!'. Then I remember him saying, 'is the ambulance here yet?' to the person on the phone and I'm guessing they said yes as my Mr ran out of the bathroom. I remember shouting to him as he ran off, 'make sure they have drugs for me'. The next thing I knew 4 ambulance crew were in the bathroom with me and one of them gave me some gas and air, sweet, sweet gas and air, that I had for about 20 seconds before one of the woman ambulance crew members pulled the tube off the mouthpiece and said I couldn't have anymore because I had stopped pushing and was doing better without it, what a cow! Anyway the next thing I can remember was her telling me to push then telling me to pant then one big push and then I felt the pain go as I gave the last push and then there she was, my beautiful baby girl! At this point I still felt out of it and I could just about see my Mr's face as he wiped away tears and smiled at me. I looked down and there she was, my beautiful little girl being cleaned up by the ambulance crew. Then they handed her to me and one of them said, 'there she is, your little girl born at 2:42am'.

2:42am! That's 1 hour and 12 minutes since I had woke up!! Was that all? It felt like hours to me. The ambulance crew had asked my Mr to go and get something to put the baby in to keep her warm so he had gone off upstairs to get some towels and my bags that were supposed to have come to the hospital with me and I remember sitting on the bathroom floor holding my baby with a towel round her when one of the ambulance crew asked if they wanted them to cut the cord or if my Mr wanted to do it. I said that my Mr had wanted to do it as that's what we had planned in my birth plan but he was still upstairs at this point so we waited for him to come back down and then asked him. I think the stress of the night's events had got to him and he couldn't do it so the ambulance crew did it in the end. I remember my little girl going off for a cuddle with her daddy in the living room while I was still sat, stark naked due to being in the bath earlier, on the bathroom floor, because the ambulance crew could not deliver the placenta as they were not skilled enough to check if it was all there. They informed me though that the community midwife who was on duty was on her way and she would deliver it when she got there. One of them got me my dressing gown to put round me as it was January and I was sat on a cold wet bathmat on a tiled floor and said to me that I had done brilliantly; that is and probably always will be one of the nicest and appropriately timed words anyone has ever said to me! At some point not too much longer after that the midwife arrived and came in and gave me my injection in my leg to deliver the placenta and it was delivered and all accounted for! She checked me over and said I seemed OK, I didn't need any stitches (which was a huge relief as I had had 15 with my 1st) and that I could get up and sort myself out now. I remember thanking the ambulance crew and apologising for the fact they would probably be haunted by the image of me giving birth for the rest of their lives! They said not to be silly and congratulated me and went on their way. The midwife then checked my baby over and weighed her, etc and all was well with baby. Baby weighed 9lb 5oz!!! 9lb 5oz with no drugs and more worryingly no stitches either, and delivered in 1 hour and 12 minutes! The midwife finished off her paperwork and then went on her way as well. The next thing me and my Mr were looking at each other as if to say, did all that really just happen? Then we looked around and we had our 2nd beautiful girl asleep in her moses basket and somehow our eldest one still asleep upstairs in her bed!

It was the most bizzare thing to ever happen to me in my entire life and even now when I think about it I feel in shock that it happened so fast and there I was just at home with my baby as neither of us had to go to hospital and we were just there and had to get on with it. I feel that I missed out on that bit you have when you have your baby at the hospital where the midwife gets your baby their bottle and you get your lunch brought to you and the midwife helps you with a few things and it's just like a little bit of relaxing time after giving birth before you go home. I was just at home and less than 2 hours after giving birth I'm standing in the kitchen sterilising bottles. It was just madness but I wouldn't change it for the world! The ambulance crew were fantastic and I wish I had caught their names as I can not thank them enough, my partner either because if they had been 5 more minutes getting there he would have had to deliver our baby himself! By the time morning came my Mr was at the shop buying the newspapers from the day our baby was born, the headline on the front of our local paper was 'Baby Born on the Bathroom Floor' - a similar thing had happened in our city to someone else only days before!!"

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Hayley's story, UK - young mum with epidural for pain relief

"I fell pregnant at the age of 14 and began contractions on the 20th of July at 7am. Not painful, just a little pain in the back and lower abdomen. The midwife came to feel how dilated I was at 2pm and I was only 2cm, so I sat back, relaxed, even went and had my dinner at 6pm, not in much pain at all just a little discomfort.

It wasn't until about 7:30pm when my mum said we should probably go to the hospital. When I got there I was already 9cm but my waters hadn't broken. They broke my water and a few minutes went by and then I felt the contractions hitting 140 on the machine. I said I wanted the epidural, the big needle that they put in your back that numbs from the legs downwards.

Whilst the doctor was putting this in, my contractions were getting worse which made it harder to sit still. Once this was done I didn't feel a thing, I was just lying there for about an hour. The nurse had to tell me it was time to push, I didn't feel when to push, they just told me. Pushing for hours and my legs in stirrups, not the prettiest of moments, but after a very long labour my baby girl was born at 11:43pm on the 20th July 6lbs 12oz. That number, time and date always stays in my head."

Submit your story to marvellousmummies@live.co.uk - please state whether you would like your name and location published otherwise by default you will become 'Anon'.