Amanda Owen, star of Our Yorkshire Farm on Channel 5, shares nine children with her estranged husband Clive.
Their home Ravenseat Farm is located deep in the Dales of North Yorkshire. And so, with the nearest hospital two hours away, Amanda has faced many challenges with childbirth.
But as she revealed back in September 2021, the reality TV star is not afraid to roll up her sleeves and choose the most “practical option”… even if that choice might prove shocking to anyone else.
And that also seemed to prove the case for Clive, too!
That’s because when it came to giving birth to little Clemmie, the eight of the Owens’ kids, Amanda chose to deliver her herself.
Clemmie’s freebirth story
Amanda told Mother & Baby she’s welcomed four of her kids into the world in countryside lay-bys because of how long it takes to reach a hospital from their remote home.
She also explained she goes through labour in a matter of minutes, and doesn’t suffer any pain.
Read more: Our Yorkshire Farm fans beg for another series as Amanda Owen shares ‘amazing’ news
And so, because midwives won’t go her way for a home birth, Amanda decided to go it alone when pregnant with her eighth.
Amanda said: “I’m not a smug Mother Earth type and I’m not anti-hospitals. A freebirth was simply the most practical option. I knew I could cope – delivering lots of baby animals on the farm had been good training!”
Giving birth by herself
Recalling how one evening – five weeks before Clemmie was due – when the kids and Clive were asleep, Amanda decided to stay up because she couldn’t sleep.
Within hours, following a wave of nausea, Amanda realised the baby was on the way.
However, she hadn’t revealed her plans to deliver the little one by herself to Clive. They had, apparently, decided to ‘see what happens’.
And, as it turns out, with the assistance of clean towels and sofa cushions, Amanda decided to do it all on her own.
Describing the moments after she felt the baby’s head come out, Amanda added her labour lasted all of four minutes.
Amanda said: “By the light of the fire, I saw my baby’s face looking up at me and blinking. It was an incredible, intimate moment. In the next big push, the body slid out onto the cushion. I scooped my baby girl up, listening to her soft snuffles.”
Amanda Owen freebirth: How husband Clive reacted
And once she had delivered the afterbirth, Amanda’s thoughts turned to Clive.
I can’t repeat Clive’s words when I woke him!
“Carrying the baby and the placenta wrapped in towels, I went upstairs to tell him. I can’t repeat Clive’s words when I woke him!” she recalled.
Read more: Who’s who in the cast of Coronation Street? Meet the full 2022 line up
Must have been a bit of a shock to wake up to, to be fair!
Amanda added she understands her approach for Clemmie may not be for all mums-to-be, but she feels it made “perfect sense” for her and her family.
Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think of this story.