This week we celebrate my second daughter’s 20th birthday. . . .20!! How?!? Every birthday I marvel at the amazing, individual people my children are. I also reflect on what their births taught me.

The short version: one Sunday we woke up, started prepping a roast dinner, my waters broke, we had a baby, we carried on cooking the roast dinner.

That really is what happened!

However, there were so many things that I learned from Erin’s birth.

It’s blackberry season, which for my family means one thing: I’m dragging everyone off to the brambles at the first hint of a free afternoon! Now, this seasonal adventure with my family always makes me think of birth (yes. . .almost EVERYTHING makes me think of birth. . . .my poor family!!)

Another week, another maternity report. And if you’ve been pregnant for more than five minutes, you’ll have seen it land in your news feed – probably at a time when you were already anxious, already doom-scrolling, already wondering if your body and the system around you can be trusted.

You’re pregnant. . .and if you’re anything like most of the people I work with, you’ve already been down the rabbit hole – the Amazon lists, the ‘must have’ reels, the influencer hauls. You’ve probably spent more time comparing travel systems than you have thinking about the birth itself.

Your fear is not irrational. It is the most logical response in the world. And it doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you’re paying attention.

Let me guess. You’ve typed some version of this question into Google at an unreasonable hour, then immediately wished you hadn’t. . .