My first son was born in hospital and the subsequent three were born at home, in water. My first baby's birth was a traumatic experience for all involved. I could hear them talking in the hallway. I felt giving birth at home would be a good environment, all the while that was working for us.I can vividly remember having a moment of quiet before the pushing stage and thinking to myself “I might actually be one of those people who gets to say she has had a positive birth story”. I was 10 days post due date and the anxiety around induction and the tough choices that needed to be made had been building since my 40 week appointment.You'd think, wouldn't you, that a mother would feel a bit the worse for wear after three days of intense and erratic labour. I had a feeling this was my body’s way of getting me prepared for birth - it had to shut down and rest in order for me to have the energy I needed for labour.One thing I'd like to share - I'd loved the idea of giving birth in the spa-like birthing suite, but as I was being induced that wasn't an option. There'd been no vaginal examinations as there'd been no need - the mother could feel the changes for herself but the contractions themselves were confusing - seemingly short and uncoordinated - and to the eye and ear, nothing altered for some time.When I was pregnant and used to get asked at which hospital I was going to give birth, I would tell people I intended to give birth at home and the response was always the same – you are so brave. In this birth story I am going to talk about my most recent birth because it’s the closest to my personal ideal of birth and the preparation and planning came about as a culmination of my previous experiences.When things began with my second labour, I had mild cramps throughout the course of the day, and I was home with my two-year old. But having that choice made for her, thanks to poor support, or her efforts being undermined by other people, or the general consensus (only 23% of babies in the UK are exclusively breastfed at six weeks) - that is something else altogether.This message came from a mother whose waters had been broken for over 24 hours, but thanks to accurate information and excellent midwife support, knew her options.Sometimes birth gets complicated. I assumed it would be in hospital but through a series of interactions I signed up with my local home birth team, probably the best decision I made.Evie’s labour, the first, was 5 hours start to finish. See how the mother leans...I have given birth twice, most recently 8 weeks ago, at home. It was calm, I had my partner and mum there too, as well as my sister and brother asleep upstairs. Listen, let it settle, take what you need to pave your pathway...I come from a family and a culture where medicalised birth is the norm and yet, when I got pregnant with my first child I immediately knew I wanted to go for a natural/non-medicalised option in the same way that some of my friends and colleagues (together we advocate for women’s reproductive rights and children’s rights to healthcare) had done both in Mexico and the UK. ...Tues 27th: Packed orders at barn after ridiculous bank holiday sale, had lots of strong Braxton hicks, think turning to proper contractions later in the day. Despite us saying this, it wasn’t really taken into consideration. I went to my midwife appointment that day and declined a sweep because there’s absolutely no evidence that they’re at all effective and because I knew that if the midwife attempted a sweep and ended up not being able to do it because I was closed for business, I would just get anxious and that definitely wouldn’t serve me well.To manage the contractions I used a variety of techniques (from my experience as a sport psychologist), breathing, mindfulness, and self-talk mostly at this stage. Ready to … My first was at a midwife- led unit, but for both births I was in water, and I have positive memories of each one.My waters broke with an undramatic trickle on Monday evening at the cinema, but contractions didn’t start. We had been booked in to be induced in 3 days time so I had just resigned myself to that being that.This was my third labour, fourth baby (twins second time) and my first time going into labour spontaneously.