The midwife needed to check my dilation, and so she laid me on my back on the bed and announced that labour was progressing nicely. Another contraction came upon me just at that moment, though, and it was then that I vowed never to experience another contraction on  my back, ever again.

I began to pace the house, trying to move things along, and became a little too attached to the Entonox. At one point, on all fours on the bed, I neglected to release the mouthpiece between contractions, and instead kept breathing it deeply. Suddenly, I was hallucinating - and lost my connection with what was actually happening. I looked up, with no idea of how much time had passed, and saw the midwife appear in front of me, standing next to my husband, wearing a plastic apron. I felt an overwhelming physical relief, and...

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