Lovely post. You took me right back. A couple of amusing things from my last boy's birth: i) don't try filling a birthing pool using an electric immersion heater AFTER the neighbours have gone home after having brought coal, coin and whisky on new year's eve. ii) don't smash a glass in your general frantic business and have to try carefully removing the shards from below the ever-bulging birthing pool while your partner leans on your head during contractions. iii) Get a midwife who doesn't phone up saying "It's misty. I'm in some woods and fields. Where am I?" All went well, and the inevitable poo was caught. Boy was named Aneurin, and the midwife didn't know who he was named after. Been reading your blog for years, and finally felt the urge to comment. Keep it up! atb D p.s. Please don't encourage midwives to 'yank' on the placenta - my wife nearly died due to that when our first was born. And that was in a consultant led maternity unit. Put us right off. Practical midwives have my vote.