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Amanda Owen, a reality television star in the UK, had given birth at the side of the road so many times because of how far she lived from the hospital, she decided enough was enough.
She would stop trying to get to the hospital and let nature take its course in the comfort of her home. “I was fed up with spoiling people’s picnics and the rest of it,” Amanda jokes.
“So I thought right well, this time I’m just going to go it alone,” she says.
The 46-year-old gave birth to her eighth baby, Clementine (now 5), at home with only her dog as companion while her husband, Clive, was asleep upstairs.
“I put the kettle on, stoked up the fire and basically had Clementine in front of the fire with just a terrier as a birthing partner, which is perfect,” she recalls.
Amanda, who is also a shepherdess, reveals Clive (67) “wasn’t desperate” to be at the birth, which is why he opted to take a nap.
“The point of the matter is he had been at seven births previously and we spend our whole lives dealing with birthing things, so it wasn’t exactly something I was particularly bothered about.
“I did it myself and I’m very happy and pleased that I did.”
Besides raising Raven (19), Reuben (17), Miles (15), Edith (12), Violet (10), Sidney (9), Annas (7), Clementine and Nancy (4), Amanda also has 1 000 sheep, 40 cows, six dogs and four ponies to look after.
But it’s her brood of nine she enjoys devoting her time to
the most.
Amanda says because of the age gaps between her kids, she has practically been breastfeeding for 15 years straight.
But she’s not complaining in the slightest: “Breastfeeding is easy, the milk is right temperature and when you aren’t lambing what are you going to do?”
Amanda says she opted to deliver her last two children at home because she could never seem to get to the hospital in time.
“Our local maternity hospital is in Middlesbrough, which is 111km away and on these roads that takes a long time,” Amanda explains. “So by baby number eight I thought, ‘Sod it, I'll do it myself’.”
Fortunately she had the knowledge of the previous births to
fall back on.
“With Clementine, I knew the baby was in the right position, so when I felt the familiar feelings I went downstairs and had the baby in front of the fire with my terrier as a birthing partner.”
She didn’t know she was pregnant with her ninth child until the end of her second trimester.
“It came as a real shock because I had no signs of pregnancy whatsoever,” she says.
“It was only when I realised I wasn’t looking as svelte as usual that I took a trip to the GP.”
Amanda and Clive, who met back in 1996, want to pass on their farm legacy and lifestyle to their kids.
“I followed my dream, which at the time was frowned on as a ridiculous idea,” Amanda says.
“And here I am now. I'm not saying I'm successful in financial terms but I'm successful in that I'm really happy with the choices I've made. I'm living the life I dreamt of living.”
Sources: Mail Online, countryandtownhouse.co.uk, Mirror Online
