Layla: First Birth, Positive NHS Home Birth, Doula Support, Meconium in Waters, No Pain Relief, Postnatal Depression

British Birthing Stories · Jan 29, 2026 · 53m

Everything was going perfectly. Six hours of labour, no pain relief, at home exactly where she wanted to be. And then her waters broke and there was meconium in them.

Layla is a doula now based in Devon, but when she had her son 8 years ago she was simply a first time mum who knew she wanted to birth at home, surrounded by fairy lights, affirmations she had painted herself, and the song she would one day know her boy was born to. Six hours of labour, no pain relief, meconium in the waters, an ambulance on standby outside, and a baby who arrived in a squat with her husband holding her up.

And…