Whenever I meet new people and tell them that I’m from the Isle of Wight, there is typically a similar reaction: “Wow, that must have been such a good place to grow up”.

They are, of course, completely right.

Schools had a bit of a wobble while I was doing my A-Levels, and leaving gigs in Southampton or Bournemouth before the last song, to make the final ferry, was always gut-wrenching, but it was more than made up for with long days on the beach with friends and a level of freedom as a teenager that I can’t imagine would have been allowed in most areas.

Even Southern Vectis was a helping hand — back in my day, the student rider meant I could travel from Cowes to Ryde for 50p a trip.

I have such fond memories of growing up here that it’s where I’ve decided to start my own family. This is where I’ve discovered a slight hiccup, however. While the Island is a wonderful place to raise kids, it is not a great place to be pregnant.

I’m not talking about my wonderful midwife or St Mary’s maternity unit, which has been great. It’s the extra stuff that’s missing.

The moment I told my older sister that I was expecting, her one bit of advice was to find my local NCT group.

These are antenatal courses run by the country’s leading pregnancy and birth charity, but they are most praised as a way for expecting parents to meet others who will have children around the same age as their own.

My sister (who lives in Bristol) recently held a 1st birthday party for all the mums and babies in her group — who she has regularly stayed in contact with and shared tips and tricks in that first year — and my mum is still friends with some of those she met 30 years ago.

The closest group to me? Fareham. I’ve managed to find an alternative that I’m happy with, but doing so was an added layer of stress and extra hours of research that I could have done without.

Then there’s the lack of shops offering maternity clothing.

I was chatting with some other pregnant women after a pregnancy yoga class last week (I missed the first session because it sold out so quickly, given the lack of groups like this on the Island) and we all said the same thing: finding maternity clothes here was near impossible.

There’s obviously plenty of online options, but given the fact your entire body shape has changed over a four-month period, it’s really a trying-on kind of shopping experience that you’re after.

Another theme came from chatting with the other women in the class: how grateful we all were that this class had started. It was “so needed” on the Island. I feel very lucky that it has launched during my first pregnancy.

In no way do I regret my decision to move home to start my family. I’m already excited to see their little life grow on the Island, to explore my favourite spots with them. We’re so well set up for family life — I just wish we were slightly better at catering for the very start, too.