In this week's episode I spoke with Megan, founder of Birth-Ed who shared the story of her first birth: an NHS induction at 39 weeks following reduced movements.

After a pregnancy complicated by severe hyperemesis, Megan trusted her instincts when something felt “off” at the end of pregnancy. Although initial scans were normal, she chose induction, navigating hospital pressure, decision-making as a student midwife herself, and being told she wasn’t in established labour. What followed was a fast, intense hospital birth that challenged everything she thought she knew about labour. Megan speaks openly about induction, self-advocacy within the NHS, and the importance of being truly listened to during birth.

These stories are personal experiences and are shared for informational purposes only. They should not be taken as medical advice. Always seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.

British Birthing Stories shares real, unfiltered stories of childbirth in the UK, from pregnancy and labour to postpartum recovery.

These stories reflect personal experiences and should not be taken as or replace medical advice. Always seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.

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Want to come on the podcast? Get in touch and share your story here

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In this episode I interviewed Jenna about her two very different NHS birth stories, her first, a long hospital labour ending in a forceps delivery, and her second, a fast and deeply healing home birth. Jenna talks openly about conceiving after an ectopic pregnancy, then labouring for over 42 hours with her first son after her waters broke early. She describes being repeatedly sent home, left without adequate support, denied pain relief, and physically restrained during pushing, an experience she later recognised as birth trauma. Although her baby was born safely, the emotional impact lingered well into the postnatal period.

For her second pregnancy, Jenna was clear from the outset: she wanted a planned NHS home birth. She shares how hypnobirthing, self-education, and feeling genuinely supported by her midwives allowed her body to labour instinctively and undisturbed.

We also explore postpartum mental health, breastfeeding, recovery, and how the right support, or lack of it, can shape the early days of motherhood.

This episode is a powerful reflection on birth trauma, informed choice, and how a positive birth can help heal what came before.

British Birthing Stories shares real, unfiltered stories of childbirth in the UK, from pregnancy and labour to postpartum recovery.

These stories reflect personal experiences and should not be taken as or replace medical advice. Always seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.

Follow us on social: Instagram · TikTok · YouTube

Want to come on the podcast? Get in touch and share your story here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two home births. Two boys born in the pool. Two labours where her body did almost everything on its own and no pain relief either time.

Hannah is a mum of two boys from Somerset who shares two calm, positive NHS home water births. Her first, during COVID, came after weeks of reading, hypnobirthing practice, and a pregnancy where her son measured small and consultants kept changing their minds. Labour started at 3am and built slowly through the day. The midwife was delayed. The pool was nearly too late. And then, in the water, just after midnight, her son wriggled out on his own in a Superman pose with his arms above his head. Hannah picked him up herself.

Her second labour was even more straightforward, apart from the week before it, when she reached 5cm and everything just stopped. He wasn't in the right position. The midwives went home. And Hannah spent the next ten days having contractions that never quite got going, holding out for the home birth she really wanted. When labour finally arrived properly, the active part was only six hours. He was born in the pool just after midday. No stitches. Stubborn placenta. Half an hour alone with her baby in the water.

In this episode we talk about:

• What it is really like to have an NHS home birth under a dedicated home birth team and what changes when that team doesn't exist second time around
• How hypnobirthing shaped Hannah's mindset across both labours
• What the fetal ejection reflex actually feels like from the inside
• Being sent home at 5cm and spending ten days in limbo waiting for labour to start again
• Why Hannah chose the injection for her placenta both times and what she thinks about the all-or-nothing view of home birth
• What a three year age gap between boys is actually like, for anyone wondering

This episode is for anyone who wants a home birth on the NHS and has been told it might not be possible. Hannah did it twice. And she would not change a thing.

The stories shared on British Birthing Stories are real, personal experiences from real women. I am not a medical professional and this podcast is not a substitute for medical advice. Every pregnancy and birth is different, and I always encourage you to speak to your midwife or doctor about your own individual care.

British Birthing Stories shares real, unfiltered stories of childbirth in the UK, from pregnancy and labour to postpartum recovery.

These stories reflect personal experiences and should not be taken as or replace medical advice. Always seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.

Follow us on social: Instagram · TikTok · YouTube

Want to come on the podcast? Get in touch and share your story here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The consultant told her on her head be it. She was 30 weeks pregnant with identical twins and asking for a water birth so she changed care providers and started again.

Layla is a doula now based in Devon who shares one of the most extraordinary birth stories on this podcast. Already known to listeners from her first episode about her home birth with her son, this time she was navigating a high-risk twin pregnancy during COVID, fighting for access to the pool, and going up against consultants who told her a vaginal water birth was simply not something she could have. She sacked the first consultant. Met with the head of midwifery. Wrote it all into her birth plan. And then trusted her body to do the rest.

Her waters were broken at midnight. By 3am she was in the pool. By 5am she was 8cm. Her first twin was born in the water, caught by no one but Layla herself. Her second twin dropped into the pelvis so fast her heart rate disappeared. What followed was the calmest, most controlled emergency nobody even told Layla was happening.

In this episode we talk about:

• What it is actually like to find out you are having identical twins alone at a 12-week scan during COVID
• Why Layla sacked her first consultant and how she requested a new one
• What twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome is and why it meant fortnightly scans throughout her pregnancy
• How she secured access to the birthing pool for a twin birth by threatening a home birth
• What happened when her second twin's heart rate disappeared after Twin One was born
• Why birthing out of guidelines does not mean birthing without support
• How Ellie the midwife and one very excited doctor made the whole thing possible

This episode is for anyone carrying twins who has been told that what they want is not possible. Layla is proof that with the right information, the right team, and the right room, it absolutely can be.

The stories shared on British Birthing Stories are real, personal experiences from real women. I am not a medical professional and this podcast is not a substitute for medical advice. Every pregnancy and birth is different, and I always encourage you to speak to your midwife or doctor about your own individual care.

British Birthing Stories shares real, unfiltered stories of childbirth in the UK, from pregnancy and labour to postpartum recovery.

These stories reflect personal experiences and should not be taken as or replace medical advice. Always seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.

Follow us on social: Instagram · TikTok · YouTube

Want to come on the podcast? Get in touch and share your story here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She was admitted the day before her due date with reduced movements. And then her body kept expelling every single pessary they put in.

Erin is a mum of two from a small town who shares a calm, grounded and ultimately positive first birth story after an induction that did not go quite to plan. Three pessaries. None lasting longer than an hour. A body that had its own ideas. And then a drip, diamorphine, and a labour that moved fast once it finally got going. Erin went from irregular contractions to holding her son Frankie in her arms in a matter of hours, supported by a midwifery team she felt genuinely cared for by throughout.

What makes this episode so valuable is not just the birth. It is the honesty about what came after. Breastfeeding that started on the floor, moved to a side-lying position at home, then to pumping, then to formula. No guilt. No drama. Just a woman working out what her baby needed and doing that.

In this episode we talk about:

• What reduced movements actually means and what happens when you report them
• Why Erin's body kept rejecting the pessaries and what the midwives did next
• What diamorphine feels like and how it affected her son's feeding in those first hours
• How a healthcare assistant helped her more than the lactation consultant did
• The honest reality of trying to breastfeed when the only position that works is lying down
• What she would tell any woman who is nervous about induction

This episode is for anyone heading into an induction feeling scared of what it might look like. Erin's story is proof that it can be calm, it can be positive, and it can be completely yours.

The stories shared on British Birthing Stories are real, personal experiences from real women. I am not a medical professional and this podcast is not a substitute for medical advice. Every pregnancy and birth is different, and I always encourage you to speak to your midwife or doctor about your own individual care.

British Birthing Stories shares real, unfiltered stories of childbirth in the UK, from pregnancy and labour to postpartum recovery.

These stories reflect personal experiences and should not be taken as or replace medical advice. Always seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.

Follow us on social: Instagram · TikTok · YouTube

Want to come on the podcast? Get in touch and share your story here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Her first birth was a calm, quick water birth at the birth centre. Her second was a home birth except the pool wasn't filled, the midwife wasn't there, and her partner was on a 999 call cutting off her leggings when their son arrived on the living room floor.

Kat is a mum of two from Huddersfield who shares two very different but equally positive NHS birth stories. Diagnosed with deeply infiltrating endometriosis and told conception might be difficult, she fell pregnant four days after that call. Her first birth was a birth centre water birth — she arrived at 5cm, progressed to full dilation in under an hour, and birthed on gas and air with a student midwife who read the room perfectly. Second time around she went 17 days overdue, navigated pressure around induction with research and confidence, and planned a home birth in the pool. Her body had other ideas.

In this episode we chat about:

• Receiving a deeply infiltrating endometriosis diagnosis and falling pregnant four days later
• Planning a birth centre birth and progressing from 5cm to birth in under an hour
• How the fetal ejection reflex took over in both labours and why trusting her body made all the difference
• The emotional weight of becoming a mother without her own mum there, and seeking counselling after her first birth
• Going 17 days overdue, pushing back on induction, and researching her options to feel confident in that decision
• A midwife performing an unsolicited sweep during a home visit and how it affected Kat's confidence going into labour
• Giving birth unattended on the living room floor with her partner on a 999 call
• The emotional crash after her son's birth and the juggle of suddenly having two children

This episode is for anyone navigating a diagnosis that makes them question whether pregnancy is possible, or anyone who wants to understand what it looks like to trust your body completely — twice.

The stories shared on British Birthing Stories are real, personal experiences from real women. I am not a medical professional and this podcast is not a substitute for medical advice. Every pregnancy and birth is different, and I always encourage you to speak to your midwife or doctor about your own individual care.

British Birthing Stories shares real, unfiltered stories of childbirth in the UK, from pregnancy and labour to postpartum recovery.

These stories reflect personal experiences and should not be taken as or replace medical advice. Always seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.

Follow us on social: Instagram · TikTok · YouTube

Want to come on the podcast? Get in touch and share your story here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everything was calm. Candles on, playlist playing, TENS machine working, and Rosie labouring at home exactly as she had hoped. And then the police arrived to take a statement about her stolen car.

Rosie is a first-time mum whose pregnancy took an unexpected turn when a routine fundal height measurement raised concerns about her baby’s growth. What followed was consultant-led care, growth scans, cord flow scans, and the anxiety of watching her baby’s percentile drop. She had done hypnobirthing, read the books, and prepared herself as much as she could — but nothing quite prepares you for labouring at home while the police are in your dining room.

In this episode we talk about:

• What it feels like to be moved from midwife-led to consultant-led care

• How hypnobirthing helped Rosie stay calm through pregnancy uncertainty

• What it was like to labour at home with the police in the next room

• How transition felt when Rosie didn’t realise that was what was happening

• Why having someone in the room to advocate for you can change everything

• What postpartum anxiety looked like day to day

• How CBT through the NHS helped Rosie understand that some of what she was experiencing went deeper than birth

This episode is for anyone who has spent pregnancy holding their breath, waiting for the next scan, the next result, or the next reassurance — and for anyone who needs the reminder that having someone who will keep calling until someone listens can make all the difference.

The stories shared on British Birthing Stories are real, personal experiences from real women. I am not a medical professional and this podcast is not a substitute for medical advice. Every pregnancy and birth is different, and I always encourage you to speak to your midwife or doctor about your own individual care.

British Birthing Stories shares real, unfiltered stories of childbirth in the UK, from pregnancy and labour to postpartum recovery.

These stories reflect personal experiences and should not be taken as or replace medical advice. Always seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.

Follow us on social: Instagram · TikTok · YouTube

Want to come on the podcast? Get in touch and share your story here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everything was going perfectly. Six hours of labour, no pain relief, at home exactly where she wanted to be. And then her waters broke and there was meconium in them.

Layla is a doula now based in Devon, but when she had her son 8 years ago she was simply a first time mum who knew she wanted to birth at home, surrounded by fairy lights, affirmations she had painted herself, and the song she would one day know her boy was born to. Six hours of labour, no pain relief, meconium in the waters, an ambulance on standby outside, and a baby who arrived in a squat with her husband holding her up.

And then, four days later, postnatal depression hit like a bolt out of the blue.

In this episode we talk about:

• How Layla found her doula and why she knew from early on she wanted that support
• What it felt like to be 4cm dilated without knowing she was in labour
• How meconium in the waters changed the energy of her home birth and what the midwives did
• Managing a first labour with no pain relief using only breath and movement
• What postnatal depression actually felt like in those first few days and why she nearly didn't recognise it
• What she now tells her own clients about trusting their bodies and finding their birth team

This episode is for anyone who wants to believe that a positive home birth is possible, and for anyone who has found that the birth going well did not protect them from what came after.

The stories shared on British Birthing Stories are real, personal experiences from real women. I am not a medical professional and this podcast is not a substitute for medical advice. Every pregnancy and birth is different, and I always encourage you to speak to your midwife or doctor about your own individual care.

British Birthing Stories shares real, unfiltered stories of childbirth in the UK, from pregnancy and labour to postpartum recovery.

These stories reflect personal experiences and should not be taken as or replace medical advice. Always seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.

Follow us on social: Instagram · TikTok · YouTube

Want to come on the podcast? Get in touch and share your story here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She had planned a home birth. She had done hypnobirthing. She had her playlists ready. And then the NHS called and said there were no midwives available.

Most women would have panicked. Faye walked into that hospital, held her ground against a doctor pushing for induction, and had the birth she always wanted anyway. Just not where she planned it.

Faye is a mum of two who had her first baby in Vancouver via induction and epidural, meaning she had never experienced the NHS maternity system, or what spontaneous labour actually felt like. Second time around she wanted something completely different. What she got was a labour that tested every bit of that preparation, a midwife swap mid-shift that changed the entire energy of the room, and a baby who arrived so fast that nobody saw the postpartum haemorrhage coming.

In this episode we talk about:

• What it is actually like to navigate the NHS for the first time as a second time mum
• How meconium in your waters affects your birth options and what the doctors will ask of you
• Why the energy of the person in your birth room matters more than you think
• What spontaneous labour feels like compared to an induced labour
• How Faye went from 6cm to pushing in under half an hour
• What a postpartum haemorrhage actually looks and feels like from the inside

This episode is for anyone who has had to let go of the birth they planned and trust that their body will find its own way. Faye did not get her home birth. But she got something she never expected either.

The stories shared on British Birthing Stories are real, personal experiences from real women. I am not a medical professional and this podcast is not a substitute for medical advice. Every pregnancy and birth is different, and I always encourage you to speak to your midwife or doctor about your own individual care.

British Birthing Stories shares real, unfiltered stories of childbirth in the UK, from pregnancy and labour to postpartum recovery.

These stories reflect personal experiences and should not be taken as or replace medical advice. Always seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.

Follow us on social: Instagram · TikTok · YouTube

Want to come on the podcast? Get in touch and share your story here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She was a midwife. She knew the system inside out. And she still couldn't get the care she actually wanted.

Katie is an independent midwife now based in Cornwall who shares two home births that could not have been more different. Her first was a planned Halloween home birth during COVID, with a private midwife who looked her in the eyes at 37 weeks and told her she could do this. Her second moved so fast that her daughter arrived before the midwives did, born in the bath with meconium in the waters and only her husband and mum there to catch her.

In this episode we talk about:

• What it actually feels like to navigate the NHS as a midwife and still feel let down
• Why Katie chose an independent midwife during COVID and how that decision changed everything
• What meconium in your waters actually means and when to worry
• How hypnobirthing helped her stay present through both labours
• What independent midwifery really costs and why so many women find a way to make it work
• What to do if you want a home birth but keep getting pushed back

This episode is for anyone who has ever felt like the system wasn't built for them, or is pregnant and already sensing that the care they are getting doesn't feel quite right. Whether you are thinking about a home birth, considering going private, or just want to know what your options actually are, Katie has lived it from both sides of the table.

The stories shared on British Birthing Stories are real, personal experiences from real women. I am not a medical professional and this podcast is not a substitute for medical advice. Every pregnancy and birth is different, and I always encourage you to speak to your midwife or doctor about your own individual care.

British Birthing Stories shares real, unfiltered stories of childbirth in the UK, from pregnancy and labour to postpartum recovery.

These stories reflect personal experiences and should not be taken as or replace medical advice. Always seek guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.

Follow us on social: Instagram · TikTok · YouTube

Want to come on the podcast? Get in touch and share your story here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.