Births Laid Bare

Here we share some Birth Stories from some inspirational women we have met along the way. All the authors of our birth stories speak very candidly about their experiences and talk about the things they wish they had known, what they would have done differently and what tips they would pass on to others.


Hollie de Cruz – The Calm Birth School

When I found out I was pregnant back in 2010, I was absolutely terrified at the idea of giving birth. In fact, my approach to childbirth education was to watch “horrific birth videos” on YouTube to see what type of thing I could “survive. Really. My husband and I were then talking to some mutual friends who’d just had their second baby, and I asked the dreaded question…”so how was the birth?”. My friend’s answer was far from any other response I’d heard (mostly how much poo was involved or how bad the tear was) – in fact, she described […]

Birth Story from Fritha Strickland from Tigerlilly Quinn

Fritha Strickland is an illustrator who runs Tigerlilly Quinn On the morning of the 13th of December I got up as usual and made my mum who was staying with us a cup of tea, asking her how she had slept she mentioned she had had a terrible tummy ache but felt better now. We joked she was getting sympathy contractions for me as she had been getting sympathy nesting instincts all week were I had none.  For the past week since my mum had been down we had been doing my pregnancy yoga DVD every day which we had […]

Birth Story from Grace Timothy – Mother’s Collective

Grace Timothy is an ex-Vogue and Glamour writer and now founder of  MOTHERS COLLECTIVE,  a members group for new mothers in Sussex offering support, pampering and nourishment every new mother deserves!       I appreciate how lucky I was. In my NCT group alone we had a breach birth, a couple of lengthy inductions, two C-sections and a big bleed. My own mother went through hell during my birth. But all I can think is that my brain had been addled by the hypnobirthing MP3 I listened to all of 4 times. I had an innate sense of calm […]

A Beautiful Birth Story and Video from Heather Francesca

A beautiful birth story from Heather Francesca whose first birth featured on Channel 4’s One Born Every Minute   To say I was excited about the arrival of our second child was an understatement. We had been given a due date of the 17th October and as this day came and went I started to get frustrated, aargh, I thought to myself, she’s supposed to be on time, after all my first little girl was born on her due date, so I’ve never had to wait for a baby before! I started to think that my dates were wrong and as […]

My Speedy Birth Stories! by Sara Madderson

By Sara Madderson of Madderson London who create Luxury Maternity Wear I was very lucky with the births of my two children. Both were born early, quickly, safely, and in the very comfortable surroundings of the private Kensington Wing of Chelsea and Westminster, thanks to my former firm’s generous health insurance.  But despite having had a relatively easy time of it, my advice would be: be bossy, and be vocal! You know your body and you and your birthing partner need to fight to get the labour that you want! Paddy My son was born on Valentine’s day, 2011, 5 days […]

Sasha Kerr, HappyBabyProject

Sasha Kerr, Creator and Editor of The Happy Baby Project   Baby Murdo There was a pop and then a splosh as my waters broke. It could have been nothing else, I knew it immediately. As I ran to the bathroom it popped again, and I was suddenly standing with a puddle of water at my feet on the cold tiles. My waters. And so it begins. Our first schoolboy error was to get over-excited. It was 3.45am for god sake, and contractions turned out to only start the next evening, but we were excited and nervous and The Chef and […]

Having a baby in France

When we gave up our London lives to move to the French Alps and run a ski chalet business we were young, child-free and ready for the adventure.  We didn’t even consider at that stage that we were going for the long term and this would involve having babies in another country.  But as these things happen, a couple of years later we were pregnant, and our journey into the French baby system had begun.   I wondered how the process might differ from the UK, and regularly spoke to friends at home to compare various things.  Monthly 4D scans seemed to be the […]

Birth Story, Lucy Martin

Lucy Martin, Owner of Lucy Martin Bridal At my 20 week scan I was told that my placenta was low lying and although there was a good chance of it moving up during the pregnancy there was a chance I could have placenta praevia and I needed another scan at 34 weeks to confirm this.   I was in the process of doing a hypnobirthing course at the time and although I had no pre conceived ideas about having a drug free birth I really liked the philosophy behind hypnobirthing and was hoping to have as positive a birth experience […]

Birth Story- Hattie Mauleverer Jones

Birth Story- Hattie Mauleverer Jones  – Managing Director Top Hat Catering 3 days late and I was getting frustrated, I had given my self a funny mouth by eating a whole pineapple, had accupucture and the baby hadn’t moved.  On Sunday afternoon my husband and went for a 5 mile walk up a super steep hill. Supper and then early to bed.  Just as M turned off his light around midtnight I felt/heard a pop. Leaping out of bed the fastest a heavily pregnant woman with SPD could, I stood in the shower whilst my waters broke. M called the […]

Twin Birth Story – Steff Potter

2 in there!   We knew that twin 1 was breech and that an elective section was likely, the knowledge that it could still change was keeping me on edge. When we had our final scan on the Monday and were booked in for our section on the Thursday I calmed. Unless I went into labour in the next 3 days I knew exactly what would be happening. I’d quizzed my sister endlessly about the whole procedure and felt safe in the knowledge that I had digested every possible scrap of information that was available. Some people aren’t like that, […]