HE MISSED THE BIRTH BY FIVE MINUTES

Sophie Billi, 32, is an entrepreneur who lives with husband Luke, 36, and their two daughters Nora, three, and baby Freya in St Albans, Herts At the start of last year having a baby was the last thing on my mind. I was working at an awardwinning agency as well as getting ready to launch my business selling biodegradable tights.

Luke and I have been together 11 years and looking back, we didn’t make a lot of time for each other. We were both working insanely hard and looking after a toddler. But lockdown really changed our relationship for the better. We couldn’t go out much or see many other people but we appreciated the extra time we were able to spend together at home.

I was using an app to monitor my fertility as a form of contraception and clearly something went wrong. When I realised I was pregnant it was a huge shock. It was a stressful pregnancy. In the early stages, I was bleeding a lot and I thought I might lose the baby. But because of the pandemic I couldn’t get an appointment. I was just told to wait it out at home and see what happened.

I had to attend all scans and appointments on my own. In November, I went into labour five weeks early and the staff at Watford General Hospital, where I gave birth, were amazing.

Because of Covid restrictions, Luke had to leave me at the hospital when my contractions started and could only be admitted when I reached active labour. It all happened so quickly that he missed the birth by five minutes. Freya was small, weighing 4lb 4oz, but after four days we were allowed home.

Our other daughter Nora is three so there is a nice age gap between the two and she is enjoying her new role as big sister.

It was a huge shock to have a lockdown baby but it’s really worked out for the best.

I thought I might lose the baby but I was told to just wait it out at home