While I accept having a home birth can been seen as both a calm and spiritual experience, giving the parents time to bond with baby in a peaceful homely atmosphere, I also know that, should there be complications, the time it takes to call an ambulance and get to the hospital will be crucial to the baby and in some circumstances, mum too.

Eleven years ago, I was pregnant with my first child.

After having a textbook pregnancy, I began to run into complications when baby decided to arrive a week overdue.

My son was born floppy, blue and technically "dead".

The staff of The Royal Sussex Trevor Mann Baby Unit did a fantastic job to keep him alive after a traumatic birth that left him brain damaged and now presents learning difficulties.

My son should have been born by Caesarean which may have prevented the damage that occurred.

However, round-the-clock medical assistance from the unit kept him alive.

If we had been at home, my baby would not have stood a chance.

One could argue that the medical negligence that was suffered by my son could indeed warrant the reconsideration of home birthing and whether it really is a sensible option.

However, should such an emergency arise and the baby needs to be delivered immediately, the wait for the ambulance and the journey to the hospital may well get you to the hospital too late to save a baby in possible danger.

I feel I should apologise for the pessimistic tone of this letter but, 11 years on, I still get very emotional about an experience that led me to elect to have both my other two children by Caesarean section.

The chances are a home birth will be successful and everything will be just fine and dandy. However, my experience leaves the decision whether to have a hospital or home birth hanging in the balance.

-Jo Whyte, Shoreham