I was scared, nay petrified at the thought of labour. Just ask my mother she thought the only way she would get children out of me was through adoption. My husband and I decided to have a baby just a few months after we got married. We were getting old and we had heard that aging bodies found it more difficult to conceive. It would seem that my husband is the exception to the rule given we got pregnant straight away.

Let us just fast forward through pregnancy to the bit when the labour commences. Now I am not good with pain and I was panicking up until the last week before my due date at the thought of my body being ripped in two on the baby's journey out.

After many anxious moments, I told myself that this had to stop. I re-educated myself. I was being so silly. As if I was the first woman on the planet to have a baby! I made a conscious decision to let go of all of the stress and anxiety this was a turning point for me.

I took the time to be by myself and really spend time thinking about what was going to happen to my body. Out of my entire lifetime on this planet, of which I hope it will be many long years, I could easily cope with a few hours of pain. And it certainly isn't bad pain it's good pain. It's the kind of pain that produces the best part of you your little bundle of preciousness that will forever change your life. I decided at that point to put my trust in God, my trust in my midwife and the team of experts I knew would be available if things went wrong. But ultimately, I put my trust in my body and that it would know exactly what to do when the time came. And it did!

My labour was long 36 hours in total. My baby girl decided she wanted to wave hello to me on the way out and got a little stuck. However during the labour when things weren't quite going to plan I trusted my midwife, I trusted God and I trusted my body. I acknowledged what they told me with calmness as I knew that stress was a futile emotion.

Although a little intervention was required through the use of a ventouse my body did its job, and the Doctors did their job and our little Angel was born safe and sound. I have gone on to have another baby now. It's amazing that before I gave birth to my first baby, I was terrified. Now that I have had two babies, and we have made the decision to not have any more children, I feel sad that I will never be pregnant again and go through the miracle of birth again.

Labour was so painful, but it was even beautiful than I could describe. Trust yourself and trust your body and know that you can do it. Let go.just let go.

Learn more about this author, Naomi Smith.
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