As a professional boxer, Teresa Perozzi has a high tolerance for pain.

But she admits that giving natural birth in the living room of her Warwick residence proved to be a formidable opponent.

The reigning WBA female middleweight champion gave water birth to a healthy 6lb 11oz baby boy two weeks ago with the aid of a midwife (childbirth specialist) and a doula (a woman trained to act as a companion to other women in labour).

“It was way more painful than when I had my first baby because it (childbirth) was so intense and fast,” Mrs Perozzi recalled. “It all went very quickly.

“I did not want to get excited because I had some false alarms for a few weeks. But I had a suspicion that day and then that evening around 10.30pm-11pm is when the first little pain started and I gave birth by 3.45am.

“It was very intense and the doula had told the other people there with me to watch out for when I get in the water to be ready for that baby. So literally I got in the water and my water broke and three contractions later he was out. I did not labour in the water, I just went in the water and had him.”

She added: “This was a beautiful experience, that’s how I looked at it. I had everyone around me; my sister (Megan), my husband (Andre), my mom (Claire) on Skype, cousin (Belinda), midwife (Makeda) and doula (Sophia Cannonier) was there.”

Mrs Perozzi said giving water birth, which is childbirth that occurs in the water, has its advantages.

“When I got into the water I was like in a trance and it was the most unbelievable feeling that you cannot even describe,” she added. “The water just soothes you and then you can get into any position you want.”

“I still did all my checkups and took all safety precautions, and we knew if anything was going wrong or didn’t seem right we could go to the hospital. But all was good; the baby’s heart rate was very healthy and I was doing great.”

Mrs Perozzi admits that giving birth at home is not for every woman.

“I would not say this is for everybody and I was definitely a candidate for home birth,” the 40-year-old mother of two said. “I had an interest in natural birth and a doula and I have seen enough natural birth to know it is a process that our bodies can deal with.

“I just felt it was the natural process and women have been doing this for millions of years. Back in the day nobody even came to hospitals to give birth.”