24-07-2025
JENNI MURRAY: I would be terrified at the thought at giving birth today
It's been 42 years since I gave birth to my first son and 38 years since the second one came along, and I look back at that time with awe, joy and amazement at just how brilliant the maternity services were.
As soon as my first pregnancy was confirmed by my GP, I was allocated a midwife who looked after me and my unborn son throughout. She came to check on me every month at my home in Southampton, where I worked at the time, and I went for regular scans at the Princess Anne Maternity Hospital, attached to Southampton General. I was invited to see the delivery ward and meet the chief midwife, registrar and consultant. I was not a private patient, so everything I got was standard NHS practice.