I hope that women will find this a place where they can share their stories of their own birth to encourange and inspire so that all mums to be can know what others experienced. Remember no two births are ever the same and whilst some may have taken a couple of hours with no pain vs someone who had a very long hard labour, they are all beautiful birth stories that resulted in the most precious gift... of life.

We respect that some mothers and parents may have a birth story that resulted in a tragic loss. We ask that these stories be shared in the forum discussion topic Pregnancy/Parenting After Loss, where you can be supported and guided with like minded women.

So to start the story bank!

A friend of mine gave birth last week to a little baby boy. She was told after 8 hours of induced labour that she would have to have a c-section. Needless to say she was not ready at that point to hear those words! I have never seen her so enraged, stressed and totally unwilling to let anyone tell her that she was going to have anything but the natural birth she wanted. She had chosen to have a doula with her (hubby was so grateful that he was not the one that all the pressure was on for support!).

Her doula lowered the lights, ran the bath, put on some candles and asked everyone to minimise movements in and out of the room unless for urgent medical tests, or if the baby went into distress at any time. My friend moved to the bath and spent 3 hours with soft music and only her husband and her doula with her, supporting her through focussing on only her baby and moving him down the birth canal. She finally relaxed during this time (I saw her 2 hours into it and she was a different person) an hour later little Max was born.  Whilst she would have had a c-section the minute anyone told her that her baby might be in danger, she first wanted to be allowed the opportunity to let her body do the work. On this occassion that is exactly what it did. I am so proud of her for trusting her body and her husband for speaking with the doctor and midwives constantly to ensure that the baby was safe.

We at Belli look forward to hearing all about your birth, the joys, the pain, the moments where you wanted to tell everyone to get out! :-) And the moment you first laid eyes on your baby.

what a great story! Hope my next birth is more like that. With my daughter I was induced, had strong contractions one on top of the other straight away and asked for an epidural when they told me I was only 1cm! 5 hours later my daughter was born so it happened pretty quickly! Im due in May now and hoping this time things go naturally but will keep my mind open to anything happening!

If this is the Preece that I know, everything went perfectly and you have a gorgeous baby to show for it!