Jessie Ware has become a mum for the second time, after giving birth to a baby boy in her living room.
The singer, 34, who already has a two-year-old daughter with her husband Sam Burrows, praised the NHS as she announced the news on Instagram.
“Last night I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy in my living room,” she wrote. “I couldn’t have done it without the most fantastic NHS Homerton Homebirthing team: Francine, Annie and Roisin.”
Ware said the “level of care and kindness” her midwives offered was incredible, adding: “Once again I’m reminded how much we should cherish our special NHS.”
Many pregnant mums-to-be commented on Ware’s post with happiness that she had shared her home birth story. “I’m planning on a home birth in eight weeks and I love hearing positive stories,” one person wrote.
Another commented: “Congratulations, I am planning one with my second child and seem to only hear horror stories, this was lovely to see!”
Home births aren’t that common in England and Wales – the latest ONS figures show the percentage of women giving birth at home was 2.1% in 2017, unchanged from 2016 but a slight decline compared with 2012 to 2015 when 2.3% of women did.
“You don’t need lots of equipment as long as you have a few essentials and create a warm and comforting environment."”
Women are more likely to have a home birth with their second or subsequent children – 3.1% of these mothers in 2017 gave birth at home, compared to only 0.8% of women with their first child.
[Read More: 9 Birth Diaries That Prove Every Labour Is Unique]
Royal College of Midwives’ head of quality and standards, Mandy Forrester previously told HuffPost UK there are several reasons she believes the percentage of women giving birth at home is low. “One is that there is lots of choice for women at the moment,” she said. “Women can choose to have babies at home, at a freestanding maternity unit or an alongside maternity unit in a hospital.
“The other thing I think is the general media portrayal is that birth is a little bit frightening for some people, so they will be in safe hands in a hospital.”
But Agnes Hann, research manager, at the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) said giving birth at home can be a “very positive” experience. “You don’t need lots of equipment as long as you have a few essentials and create a warm and comforting environment,” she said.
For more information on home births, visit the NHS website here.