I took a deep breath and strode towards the venue. ‘We’ll do this together, okay?’ I whispered to my bump. ‘Just you and me.’

Chapter Two

Aisha

The meeting was being held in the back room of our local church. When I finally found the door, I pushed it open and saw a room full of strangers sat in a circle staring at me.

‘Hi,’ I said, cringing inwardly as I realized I was interrupting the introduction. ‘Sorry I’m late. I’m Aisha. Aisha Moore.’

There was an intense silence as I made my way into the room. Luckily the jolly woman who had been talking didn’t seem fazed.

‘Hello Aisha!’ she said warmly. ‘Welcome. I’m Maggie, I’m a doula and your group leader! Take a seat here.’ She indicated a chair opposite hers. ‘I was just about to ask the mummies to tell us how far along they are and where they’re having their lovely babies. You can kick things off if you like? Feel free to tell us the sex, if you know – only if you want to. No one has to discuss anything they are uncomfortable with. This is a supportive space. No judgement here.’ Maggie was a short, podgy lady, probably in her late fifties, with frizzy brown hair, a wide smile and small, kind eyes. She was leaning so far forwards, smiling encouragingly with her whole body, that it looked like she might topple off her chair.

I hung my coat on the back of my seat and sat down, carefully pushing my bags underneath. I’d have to deal with the plate of sandwiches later.

‘Well,’ I began once I’d caught my breath, ‘I’m just over thirty-five weeks pregnant and I don’t know what I – we’re – having.’ I rubbed my bump and Maggie nodded eagerly.

‘Where are you planning to give birth?’ she asked.

‘Hopefully not on the Tube!’ I giggled nervously and noticed no one else seemed to find this funny. ‘Hospital obviously – College Square Hospital.’

I saw Maggie’s eyes flicker. ‘Not obviously, necessarily,’ she muttered. ‘It’s a very personal choice.’

I felt a bit stupid. It’s just that a home birth had never really been a consideration for me; I wanted to be in the safest possible environment – especially if I might end up delivering the world’s largest baby. Jason had recently mentioned both he and his sister were ‘huge’ newborns and, judging by the fact I’d put on over two stone in weight so far, there was a high likelihood that I was carrying a mega-baby too. That was my reality – and that, in my book, meant hospital. But I decided not to go into it, because I noticed Maggie’s gaze move to the empty bucket seat on my left. ‘My husband, Jason, he’s working today, but hopefully he’ll be at the next meeting,’ I explained. ‘Sorry again for being late.’

A woman with blonde highlights a few seats to my right in the circle caught my eye and gave me a friendly smile, which made me feel a little better.