William Henry Weight 7lb 5ozLength of labourUnder three hoursPain reliefGas and airWorst bitPanicking that Andrew might not be there for the birthBest bitThe elation after he was born; he was so beautifulAll my boys were born close to Christmas, but William

Emma Holmes, 27, from West Sussex is married to Alan and mum to Faith, who will celebrate her first birthday on Christmas Eve. She says last Christmas was the best ever ­ but also the weirdest! Birth factsBaby's nameFaith Elizabeth Weight 6lb 6

Sylvia Hamilton, 36, lives in Middlesex with husband Craig and daughter Tara, who will be three on Christmas Day. Birth factsBaby's nameTara Louise Weight7lb 4ozLength of labour 10 hoursPain reliefTENS, gas and air, epiduralWorst bit

... Birth factsBaby's nameEvelyn Helen Weight7lb 9ozLength of labourJust over two hoursPain reliefBach Rescue RemedyWorst bitProblems with breastfeeding, and the lack of communication because of the language barrier.Best bitThe fact that it was all so quick

, which included ticking a box to say what sort of a birth I wanted. I ticked the “natural pain-free” box. After an examination the doctor confirmed I wasn’t dilating. I was given an oxytocin drip at 10:30am, and put into a labour room.Walking itI spent

on the other side of the pond Birth factsBaby's nameQuinn Ann Weight9lb 7ozLength of labourLess than 10 hoursPain reliefEpiduralWorst bitBeing woken up both nights in the hospital for routine checkups.Best bitGetting to hold Quinn straight after the birth

Although in cases of premature birth, there is not a great deal you can do about a baby being born underweight, there are quite a few things you can do about helping to ensure your baby is a good weight if he is born at full-term.What is a 'low

choose to have a home birth, but the government has promised the option to all women by 2009.The research has been widely criticised by home birth advocates as the word ‘transfers’ does not solely apply to women who were rushed into hospital in labour

in the number of babies born before 24 weeks, the current limit for abortion.The study analysed all severely premature births in this country in 2006 and compared the survival rate to that of those born in 1995.From 1,300 live births before 26 weeks gestation

Susan Lawson, 35, from Bristol, is partner to Greig and mum to three-year-old Noah and six-month-old Barnie. After seeing her best friend Tessa’s peaceful home birth, she followed suit and hired a birthing pool for both her deliveries. Birth