Ruth Harvey, 36, and partner Eddie Gillan, 44, welcomed daughter Tabitha into world on Tuesday, February 28 at their home in Dundonald.
Baby Tabitha weighed in at a whopping 12lbs 9oz, with NHS Ayrshire & Arran’s home birthing team crowning her Ayrshire’s biggest home birth baby.
Mum Ruth, an assistant service manager for a family support service in Glasgow, told Ayrshire Live: “When they weighed her we were like ‘oh my god!’
“They had said that she would be a bigger baby but I mean 12lbs 9oz is ridiculous really.
Ruth and Eddie, who share four kids together, have praised the “phenomenal service” from NHSA&A home birthing unit, as they look to encourage more women to consider a home birth – which NHS chiefs say have continued to increase since the introduction of the team in May 2019.
Partner Eddie set up the living room with a birthing pool and fairy lights, making it “all beautiful” for Tabitha’s arrival, with the midwives arriving in the early hours to support Ruth through labour.
Ruth said: “The midwives arrived at 2.30am in the morning and just let labour happen in the water.
“Things got a bit more serious and I started to push and Tabitha was born in the birthing pool in our living room at 9.30am on the Tuesday morning.
Everyone was just so happy for you – it was like a party.
“Having those women there alongside me and Eddie, who we already knew and trusted, just made everything so much easier.
