A MUM has recalled the "amazing" experience she had giving birth naturally to her newborn daughter, who weighed 12lbs, at home, with only gas and air for pain relief.
Mum-of-four Ayshah Maton, 34, gave birth to daughter Eloise on her living room floor at her home in Buckinghamshire in March, and while it may sound chaotic, she insists her birthing story was nothing but "calm".
The average weight for babies is usually between 7-8lbs - meaning Ayshah's daughter Eloise was almost double the national average.
Not fazed by her baby girl's weight, however, Ayshah joked she and her husband seem to "produce big babies".
She says she knew Eloise was going to be a big baby, as two of her sons weighed in at just over 11lbs when they were born.
While Eloise's weight was a bit of a shock as she hit just over the 12lbs mark (12lbs 0.5oz), Ayshah "wasn't worried" about giving birth naturally and delivering her at home.
"I always knew I wanted to give birth naturally, and whatever size she was going to be wasn't going to be any different if I was at the hospital or at home," she said, reports Femail.
She spent most of her labour in a birthing pool, but ended up giving birth to Eloise on the floor in her living room just after 12pm on 12 March.
"It was an amazing birth. It was a really positive experience," Ayshah said.
Ditching any pain relief and relying on gas and air to help her through her labour, Ayshah said she much preferred giving birth at home than in hospital, like she had done with her sons; Ethan, seven, Hugo, five, and Cooper, three.
She said: "It was my first home birth, and it was such a different experience - it was so much more relaxed when you're in a safe, familiar environment, rather than in a hospital."
For the birth, Ayshah - who is 5ft 7inches - was joined by her husband Gari, two midwives and a doula.
She experienced her shortest labour with Eloise, despite her little girl being the biggest baby of her brood and Ayshah says by the end of the weekend she was pretty much "up and about again" as normal.
It's believed Eloise is one of the biggest baby girls born naturally in the UK.
The baby girl that holds the record was born in 2012 and weighed 14lbs 4oz.
