Feltham couple are 100th to enjoy new birth suite

Holly gave birth to her daughter in a completely pain relief-free, water birth, at the recently-opened Natural Birth Centre.

"The water birth was so good, much better than when I gave birth to my son through a conventional birth," she said. "The labour was seven hours and I didn't even want any pain relief until right at the end when it was almost over. The Natural Birth Centre is a really nice place to give birth. I'd definitely recommend it."

Ruby, who is a younger sister to four-year-old Tyler, was the 100th baby to be born in the centre since it opened its doors on October 13.

Designed to support normal labour and create a home away from home environment, the centre encourages active birth through the use of birthing pools and aids such as balls and bean bags.

The midwives who delivered Holly and James' daughter, Karen Goodman and Emma Fosuhene, were eager to sing the praises of water birth.

"A water birth can make labour much easier for mothers as it helps to relax them and leads to a peaceful birth for their baby," said Ms Goodman. "It can help women cope with pain better, as Holly's labour shows, and also means the need for medical intervention is less likely."