ABSTRACT
All of the women in this book had stressful pregnancies. However confident they were in their decisions and however strong the support they received from their partners, independent midwives and home birth groups, there remained anxiety that affected the quality of their lives. Some described near pathological anxiety arising from simply being pregnant because it rekindled the memory of a traumatic first birth:
My first was a caesarean birth and it was one of the worst days of my life. And then about a year later, I was pregnant again and I felt very anxious and I really didn’t know what to do about my anxiety. I phoned the midwife and I think I must have used certain key words that they respond to because my named midwife came to see me and she was using the word ‘anxious’.
