My eldest daughter was born in a midwife led unit (birth centre) located at Kingston Hospital. Whilst it had been a positive experience I had found the transfer to hospital challenging, and there hadn’t been time to use a pool when I arrived. I therefore hoped to have a home water birth with my second baby.

In my second birth my waters broke in the middle of the night, and the first thing that I did was the washing up, because I couldn’t have the midwives arriving to a messy kitchen!

Whilst I sat on my birth ball, using a hot water bottle during surges, my husband filled the pool. After speaking to me on the phone my midwife decided to come straight to the house, finding it easy thanks to the twinkly fairy lights on the front gate. Shortly after the midwife arrived I stood up and felt the baby descend. I jumped in the pool and the baby arrived in the next two surges, less than two hours after I‘d started the washing up!

It was the most wonderful feeling to fully surrender to the power of labour, knowing that help was coming and I did not have to move from the sanctuary of my home. I felt that the quiet, undisturbed hypnobirth had supported a quick labour, with all the birth hormones working really efficiently.

By 6:30am the midwives and doula had cleared up and left. My daughter was delighted to find a new baby sister in the cot when she woke up in the morning, and we had our first breakfast together as a family of four.

Susan lives in Kingston upon Thames, South West London, and is a mum to Florence and Jemima, aged six and two. Her youngest daughter was born at home in April 2016. She used hypnobirthing in both her births and thinks it played a big part in making them speedy and positive. She regrets not having her first baby at home as well. Susan is a civil servant in London, is passionate about homebirth and volunteers with her local homebirth support group.