One thing nobody really prepares you for when you're pregnant is how interested everyone suddenly becomes in your body.
People ask if you're planning on breastfeeding, whether you'll have an epidural, if you're hoping for a water birth, or whether you'll 'try naturally.'
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I've chosen to have a caesarean, and now that I'm getting closer to my due date, the question I get asked most is: 'why?'
The answer is because I want to.
I'm not writing this because I think everyone should have an elective caesarean. Far from it.
Birth is unpredictable and there isn't one right way to do it.
But births through caesarean section, planned and unplanned, have overtaken natural vaginal births in England for the first time, according to NHS figures from 2024-25.
I think it's worth talking honestly about why I made my decision in this context, because I don't think it happened in isolation.
The stories that shaped my decision
Over the past few years, through my work, I have heard stories about birth that I will never forget.
In February, I attended an event in parliament on birth trauma.
I heard women speak about forceps injuries that left them with lifelong physical damage.
One woman described repeatedly telling healthcare professionals that something didn't feel right during her pregnancy, only to later discover there was no heartbeat.
She even asked for a caesarean after being told her baby had died. Her request was refused.
