Anthony is a homeopath and both of us are teachers of the Alexander Technique, so we felt we had a good foundation for making the pregnancy and birth as natural as possible. As soon as I knew I was pregnant, I stopped drinking coffee, tea and alcohol as far as I could, replacing them with fruit juice, sparkling water and herb teas (ginger was particular helpful when feeling sick). Freshly squeezed vegetable and fruit juices also seemed to keep the energy up in the first months. Later, really watching my sugar intake and only trying to eat natural sugars seemed to ease things like heartburn and "jumpy" legs at night.

During the whole pregnancy I made great use of homeopathic remedies and herb tinctures for things like morning sickness, fatigue, leg cramps, heartburn and back and pelvic pain, and I can highly recommend them, as there are no side-effects.

The Alexander Technique came in very helpful as my body started to change. I was, for instance, able to release tension especially in my back and neck and head, and paying attention to not being pulled out of balance by the changing shape helped me carry the "bump" without problems to the very end. I was lucky that my GP was very supportive of my choice to have a home birth. (I say lucky as there are still some GPs who are against you having a home delivery - especially the first time. If that is the case I can only recommend you find another GP!). The GP put me in touch with the local community midwifery service at the Central Middlesex Hospital for a home delivery. I would go and see them at a little centre five minutes from where I live and I felt well looked after all throughout the pregnancy. For the last two weeks they came to see me at home.

The only hospital visit I had was to have the 20 weeks scan, which - though I had had my doubts whether to have it or not - was probably a good decision, as it did give me a more precise due date and it was lovely to actually see the little shrimp.

I contacted Ilana Machover for a private four-week antenatal course. Ilana is an Alexander Teacher herself, a qualified NCT teacher, and a trainer of doulas (a person who assists a woman in labour). Her teaching and preparation was invaluable and the movements we rehearsed with her was what I relied on during labour. We also did a one-day couple workshop, preparing especially the fathers-to-be for the big day with details of the birth and its various stages, and a chance for them to ask questions.

During my nine months, I had started drinking raspberry leaf tea, as it is known to strengthen and tone the tissue of the womb, if drunk regularly throughout the pregnancy. It can also assist contractions and limit hemorrhage during labour. For the last few weeks I mixed it with squaw vine, as this is an excellent herb for preparing the uterus and the whole body for the birth.

My due date came and passed with no sign of baby. An antenatal teacher had told us to cross out this date anyway and expect something much closer to 42 weeks. I wish the system would take that into account as well. I was having a lot of Braxton-Hicks, which are painless contractions due to the increased oxytocin hormone in the body.

On Tuesday the 5th of June I woke up at 5.30am feeling what appeared to be the beginning of a period pain in the lower belly. The previous night (Sunday) I had a show during one of my frequent visits to the bathroom; this often indicates the start of labour within the next 24 hours. On Monday I felt quiet and withdrawn and had gone to bed (after a minor cleaning frenzy) feeling excited and slightly nervous - like the night before a big exam.

The contractions were every 20 minutes to half an hour and only lasting approximately 20 second. each, and I was still able to fall asleep in between. I got up around 9.00am and tried to eat a bit of breakfast, thinking that I would need it! The contractions were not any different and just long enough apart to forget about them. I sent Anthony out for fruit and ice cream. He looked a bit like he wasn't going to come back and I realised that he was probably a bit nervous too!

At eleven o'clock we called Bridget - a friend of mine who also is an Alexander Teacher and who just qualified as a doula. She lives in Holland but was luckily in London for a few days. She said she would come over as soon as she had arranged for someone to look after her little girl.

The next few hours were spent in the living room getting things together for the big moment: reading, resting, chatting with Anthony and of course dealing with the contractions. Being in the stress-free environment of my own home where I was free to move around as I wanted and deal with my contraction as I found appropriate made me able to establish a good rhythm and connection with my body. I could feel when a new contraction was on its way and I would be able to "meet it" by giving my Alexander directions and releasing tension that had build up.

I remember having a strong image of being on a small boat sailing into a storm, my body being the boat, and the contractions the waves that got bigger and bigger. I - the skipper - got better at reading the sea and sending the right messages/directions to the crew and as the storm grew, so did my faith that this, after all, was what my boat was built for; I just had to stay by the wheel to keep the right course.

When Bridget got here at 1.30pm I was on all fours in the corridor. The contractions were now 10 minutes apart and a lot stronger. I had to stop what I was doing when a contraction came and I would get down on all fours and rock or lean on my big blue gym ball and move in a "pear" movement for as long as the contraction lasted. Bridget had brought lots of small "tools" like a firm ball approximately 10 inches in diameter, which she used for rolling on my back and lower sacrum during contractions; or I would use it, wedging it between me and the wall, and doing rolling movements (difficult as contractions got stronger). She had several small balls and massage devices that she used on my feet and back when resting between contractions - just great. She also reminded me of things like softening in my mouth and letting my neck be free.

repeat. Though it was a warm sunny day, I suddenly started freezing like a lizard at the North Pole. Anthony made a fire in the fireplace and I was wrapped in blankets while the others were sweating their pants off! Now it's easy to see that I could have done with some sugar of some sort to keep the energy up, like honey on a spoon or frozen juice cubes - something to remember for next time.

By about half past three the contractions were three minutes apart and I was pretty tired and really felt like a break. Thinking that I still had a long way to go, I was feeling very emotional. Anthony suggested that I lie down with my head in his lap; he then started talking to me very softly and calmly. He said things like how everything was going fine, that I had a good rhythm going and that I didn't need to slow down when the midwife would arrive etc. I just drifted off and for 20 minutes or half an hour my contraction slowed down and were much less strong. All this time Bridget was massaging my feet and when I got up I felt very refreshed and much stronger again. This was the only time during labour I lay down, the rest of the time I would keep upright, in a monkey (a partial squat - an integral part of the Alexander Technique), leaning on the ball or my helpers, squatting, kneeling or on all fours doing the different movements we had rehearsed with Ilana.

At 4.30pm I had contractions every other minute and we called the midwife. I was very happy to find that the midwife, Jenny, who was on call, was the one that I had seen most during my pregnancy and felt most comfortable with. She was there half an hour later; at that time I had contractions every minute. I was using Bridget or Anthony to support me during the contractions in a standing rocking lunge, where I would rest my head on their shoulder and move my balance from foot to foot. Bridget was better for this, as she is the same height as me. I used my breath as the rhythm and would make "whispered ahs" or a tone/sound on the out-breath; this was very soothing and helpful and seemed to get me through the contraction quicker.

The midwife was very informal and discreet and just asked us to continue what we were doing and watched us for a while, while she unpacked her things. She then asked me to lie down so that she could examine me. When she did, the water broke (I had had a leak of hind water in the morning but this was a real splash). She told me that my cervix had dilated about 8cm. I didn't know whether to be happy or not as I couldn't remember how much I had to dilate in the first place...

I didn't get much time to think about it either, for as I stood up the next contraction came and suddenly this was a whole different thing. I had got to the second stage and my goodness THIS WAS VERY PAINFUL! The midwife heard my moan and took one look at my face and I heard her say "OK, here we go". Having had the water broken and being so much dilated, the next phase happened very fast - luckily, because this was the tough one.

I was standing/hanging from Anthony's neck; Bridget had her hands on my feet for the next four or five contractions. Still doing my "whispered ahs" they were now more like high-pitched howling that must have been pretty unbearable to listen to, but it still really helped (I was modest enough to ask Bridget to close the window and the curtains in between two contractions). It seemed like my urge for pushing went into the sound I was making, and that my body took care of the rest.

The midwife was standing watching me closely, telling me I was doing fine and that I could now press at the next contraction if I wanted to. I could only howl and can still see her smile when she said: "Listen love, if you want to press you've got to shut up!" I never got that far. At the next contraction my legs couldn't bear me anymore and I had to come down on my knees; I heard a strange wet sound and then after a short silence came a little cry. I just sat there on my knees as the midwife passed a tiny red body through my legs into my arms. I was quite shocked, as it was all over much faster than I had expected.

My umbilical cord was very short so I ended up holding the baby awkwardly on my tummy - then he looked up at me with these amazing clear eyes. It was a boy, no doubt about it - though I still checked to be sure. This was it - I was holding my son in my arms; after many months of anticipation and excitement he had finally arrived - so perfect.

We left the cord intact till it had stopped pulsating. I barely noticed another midwife had arrived, but she now took the little boy to examine him and weigh him. Louis was a long handsome baby with a serious expression, weight 8 pounds, length 53cm.

I had asked not to be given syntometrine and even though it wasn't just what I felt like having to deal with at that moment, the placenta was delivered 30 minutes later without problems. Though feeling numb and pretty bushed, I did not have any tears. (Cotton wool pads soaked in Arnica and calendula infusion helped things return to normal after the birth.) After an hour the two midwifes had left and we said goodbye to Bridget and lay down for a bit looking at our little prince. Suddenly I realised how hungry I was and we went straight to the kitchen, where Anthony cooked. What a fantastic feeling sitting at home with our baby after a "good day's work".

Looking back at the day, there is not much I would have done differently. Some things turned out lucky, like Bridget being here in London on the day. I can really recommend having a doula around with whom you feel comfortable - not just for you but also to support your partner. I think I was lucky to have the midwife that I felt most connected too, but at the same time they all seemed very good and professional.

Standing up during contractions and moving gently from side to side, plus doing the "toning" or "whispered ahs" (not so whispered towards the end!) seemed to be the most helpful thing for me to do while dealing with the pain and prevented me from tightening. In the first ten days after the birth, the midwife who had assisted me came nearly every day to check on the baby and me. We talked about the birth and the midwife said "Yeah, it was a good birth".
"A good birth?" I said - I thought it was fantastic and was pretty pleased with myself! I asked her what it took to impress them and she said "We see a lot of good births, women giving birth at home are much more in control and able to decide how they want to go about it, this makes them more confident and active which seems to be the key to a good birth". Actually it really pleased me that I wasn't so special after all, but part of a much bigger group of women who want to take control of their own pregnancy and give birth naturally.

Louis is a very healthy and happy boy, who seemed to have enjoyed coming into the world without any unnecessary stress, trauma and drugs.