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Annmarie Burnell's birth story

Annmarie Burnell attributes her quick and happy home birth to the support of her mum and partner

Hi there! I wanted to share mine and Liam's birth story with you, as even in this day and age there still seems to be a stigma attached to home births for first time mums. I think rather than be bogged down with negatives, you'd like to hear something positive!

I'd always wanted my partner and my mum to be with me during labour, but I was told at antenatal classes that I could only have one person in the delivery suite at the hospital. Well, I was adamant my mum and Stephen would be there, so I began to consider a home birth as a solution. The more I thought about it, the more I warmed to the idea.

In my mind hospitals are for emergencies and illness. Pregnancy isn't an illness and labour isn't an emergency, so I didn't feel the need to go into hospital. I also felt quite confident about labour so didn't feel scared about the thought of giving birth at home.

I wasn't in pain
Home birth was never offered to me as an option. Once I'd asked for one and got the wheels in motion, I came up against very little opposition. The midwives were very thorough with my antenatal care and sent me for a scan at 34 weeks to rule out any risks or difficulties. Liam seemed to be a bit on the small side, and my amniotic fluid was reduced, which for a while I thought might result in me having to go into hospital. But the consultant was happy to let us go ahead with a home confinement.

When the big day came, I still thought I had a while to go - Liam was due a few days later. I had been to the cinema with Stephen, my step dad and brother. During the film I became aware of backache and cramps which kept coming and going.

I wasn't in pain and it wasn't uncomfortable, so I thought I'd not get my hopes up. On the way home, around 8.30pm, I told Stephen that I'd phone my mum and put her on standby just in case.

My brother was white as a sheet
At 9pm I was just about to tuck into my tea at my step dad's house when my first contraction came out of nowhere. I was sitting on the sofa between Stephen and my brother (who's only 15) - next thing they knew I was on all fours on the floor deep breathing and rocking like a woman possessed.

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