I pretty much knew even before I was pregnant that I wanted to have Lynn as my midwife, and that I wanted my baby at home. I had met Lynn a few months previously when my sister Louise had her little boy Luca.

I had seen the support and friendship that Lynn had given Louise and her partner Jon, and felt that there was no way I wanted anything less. My friends had all gone down the usual route with the NHS, and whilst not all of them were disappointed with it, I had witnessed a whole diffierent type of midwife relationship and knew that I wouldn’t settle for anything less.

My husband James had the usual reservations about having the baby at home; he was nervous about my and the baby’s safety, and whether I had made this choice just because my sister had done it rather than because it was right for me. He was right in that I had to make sure I was completely comfortable with having our baby at home and needed to make sure I was not doing it out of a romantic notion of a beautiful pain and intervention free fairytale birth. I really did think that Bambi might graze on the lawn and bluebirds would twitter around me whilst I was in labour. The room that I had earmarked for the birth overlooked the garden, and as my due date was 7th August, I thought I could look out onto a beautiful sunny day and enjoy every minute of my labour...!

If there were any question marks Lynn erased them almost as soon as I spoke to her on the phone to arrange her first visit. She not only affirmed my belief that having the baby at home was absolutely the right thing to do, she also cleared the doubts and worries that James had.

There began some of the most interesting months of my life. I loved my time with Lynn, and learned so much about the baby that was growing inside me, what my body was doing and how it was changing to develop and accommodate this new life. Her stories and experiences were so fascinating that I was always left feeling inspired and proud to be a pregnant woman.

Lynn also made sure James and I were armed with knowledge in order for us to make our own choices. I was actually surprised at how much I was learning from her especially when I spoke to friends and attended my Parentcraft meetings. There are many areas where pregnant women are not given all of the information or advised that they have a choice, and I often had to stop myself preaching to people that they didn’t have to do what the NHS told them, it was their right to make choices for their bodies and unborn babies.

As the big day approached it was clear that my baby wasn’t going to hang around, however I was not quite ready for her to come four weeks early! My first worry was that I would have to go to hospital as the NHS doesn’t ‘allow’ home births before 37 weeks. However because Lynn knew me and my baby she was happy for me to stay at home.

Early labour started at about 5am, and I spent 2 hours wondering whether this was really it. I phoned Lynn and she advised me to carry on as normal for as long as possible. As things had started a few weeks earlier than expected, we weren’t as prepared as most parents. James had to go and get the pool and I went to Mothercare with my mum and sister to get last minute essentials! They were timing my contractions whilst we were c hoosing mattresses and nursing bras. I still can’t walk through Mothercare’s doors without re-living that surreal experience! At about midday my contractions went up a gear and the reality hit me that this baby really was coming. I don’t suppose Tesco have had such an emotional woman at their checkouts before!

The afternoon was spent getting the room ready, filling up the pool and locating a TENS machine. I had so many friends and family come and go around me that day, all doing their bit to help James and meI, it really made it special and provided many comedy moments which helped ease the contractions. I wouldn’t have had any of that had I been in hospital. At about 5pm everyone left James and me to it. I was still having a few minutes rest between each contraction so James and I were able to enjoy a special time together waiting for our baby to arrive.

After being in regular contact with Lynn all day, she arrived at about 8.30pm. Although I hadn’t been at all anxious prior to her arrival, once she was there I felt very relieved and secure. I suppose it was the final confirmation that the baby was coming; a tiny part of me still thought that maybe Lynn would say it’s false labour. Perhaps delirium had set in!

The pool was an amazing comfort, and although no one would believe it before or after the birth, it was a great pain reliever too. At no point did I regret being at home, in fact I kept thinking that I was so glad that I wasn’t in a hospital room - all I wanted was to be exactly where I was with James and Lynn. I never had any real sense of time, or how long things were taking but was very glad to hear Lynn ask if we wanted to place bets on whether the baby would arrive on the 10th or 11th July. It made me feel that I was nearly there.

Our beautiful Elsie was born at 11.29pm, and even before the 3rd stage my parents were at our house celebrating with us. Just after midnight my sister arrived, and it was just like I’d hoped it would be - we all sat around drinking tea and pinching ourselves over what had taken place so unexpectedly that day.

The following days were pretty much a blur, but Lynn’s regular presence meant we never had a need to be worried or unsure of anything. It was then that I fully realised how priviledged I was to have been able to have my baby the way I wanted. Reading Lynn’s record of the birth, and seeing that she’d written down everything from when I made the first phone call that morning, to when we called our families that night, was the icing on the cake. I don’t suppose the NHS midwives would have provided me with such a special keepsake.

Our little pink baby had been born into a calm, warm and homely atmosphere with as many of her family that could be there. Was it the romantic, fairytale experience that I secretly still hoped for? Absolutely.