We have been lucky enough to have been friends for 25 years, so have quite happily been able to laugh, cry, shout and discuss plenty of difficult issues in our lives together along the way.

We obviously talked about our pregnancies and births, but when we wanted to know something that neither of us had experienced then apart from a medical book or a doctor/midwife, we couldn't find the answers we were looking for.

What we wanted was to have our questions answered by people who had experienced what we were going through first hand.

We have created baby-stories.co.uk to collect stories from mums and dads to make a book with real stories about real peoples pregnancies and births. Being able to read about real emotions, along with the medical side of pregnancy allowing people to get an idea of how other people feel, react and deal with it.

How lovely it is to chat to your friends and share in there experiences and as you have probably found, no one story is ever the same.

Sometimes the way you are feeling can make you feel scared and alone, so it is really great to hear from others who have been through the same emotions and to realise that it is ok to feel scared, nervous and excited, sometimes all at once!

We believe that this book will allow mums to be to gather a real inside knowledge of what it is really like to carry a baby and give birth and hopefully answer all those questions you can sometimes feel a little nervous about asking.

So this is where you and your experiences can help others by giving an instant insight into the personal intimacies and feelings that can only be achieved through experience itself.

Marie and Karen