Women are returning to the days when they had babies at home. The trend is being led by celebrity mums such as Charlotte Church and Davina McCall who have had natural deliveries at home. It is also influenced for some women by concerns about overcrowded hospitals and the condition of the wards.

JANE WILLIAMS reports.

Her bags were packed, the baby was on its way, but Justine Burrell-Saward decided against heading for the hospital.

Instead she stayed at her Colchester home with partner Jason to have her baby.

After all, she had midwife Julie Hinchcliffe on hand and all was going well. And so Emma was delivered in the family’s Colchester home.

“It felt intimate having the baby in the front room,” said Justine. “It was painful – as births are – and it was fast but it felt relaxed and calming not to be surrounded by hospital equipment.”

Justine had been prepared for a hospital birth as her three-year-old, Megan, was born in hospital on medical advice as she needed to be induced.

Justine is one of a growing number of women opting for a home birth. Those numbers may increase more now that the Government has pledged that by next year mothers will be able to choose whether to have their child in a hospital, in a midwife-led birth centre or at home.

  • More in today's Gazette