SingaporeMotherhood | Pregnancy
March 2025
Kindle Space is this Mum’s Labour of Love for Mums-to-be, Mothers, and their Children
Giving birth to her third child on a mattress at home was not part of Ho Kin Ing’s delivery plan. Serendipitously though, the moment fits perfectly with the 33-year-old’s current life work. Kin is the founder of Kindle Space, a wellness studio in Singapore dedicated to supporting women through pregnancy and postpartum. Inspired by her personal experiences, Kindle Space offers a safe environment with a holistic approach to empower women during this transformative time, and beyond. “We offer mothers a space to find community, confidence, and support,” Kin muses over our cups of chocolate-scented tea.
Kin’s journey to wellness did not start smoothly. At 14, she had an outbreak of rashes that doctors could not find a cause for. “It’s like my whole body was kind of angry. I went to the National Skin Centre and they did a biopsy, but they couldn’t find anything. Whenever I’m stressed, it comes out.
“As I grew older, I became more aware of my body. I realised that my body could hold tension and stress. That is when I started going for yoga classes. When my friends were going on their graduation trips, I took my yoga teacher certification. I would say yoga, mindfulness and journaling helped me through these moments. This is also why I opened Kindle Space; I want to share that there can be a very holistic way of managing anxiety and stress,” the mother of three girls — Agnes, 6, Beatrice, 3, and Cherish, 1 — says.
(See also: HOSPITAL MATERNITY PACKAGE 2025: HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO GIVE BIRTH IN SINGAPORE?)
A Panic Attack after the First Birth
“I had a panic attack the day after giving birth to my first daughter. I gave birth without pain management, which was what I dreamed of, but I don’t know what happened. Every emotion just crashed into me.
That was my first full blown panic attack. I’ve not had that kind of experience, I don’t think I ever felt that intensity of emotions before. It just washed down onto me. I remember that I couldn’t breathe.
When the gynae came by, she asked if I wanted hormone pills. Looking back, I think she might have known something that I didn’t. But I said no, because I was like, ‘What do you mean I need hormone pills? Like, am I a bad mother? And what do you mean that I need medicine to be normal?’ I didn’t realise that I was indeed abnormal.
There was a lot of fear. Would they take my child away from me if I admitted that I was having panic attacks? I decided that I was going to try to get through this by myself. Forget about external help. I was just going to try and push through.
On top of that, my first postpartum journey was tumultuous. I felt very lonely. At 27, a lot of my friends had not even gotten married, let alone given birth. I felt like I was the odd one out.
Rage during Pregnancy with the Second Child
During my pregnancy with my second child, there was one afternoon when I had this unexplainable rage that I still can’t explain. It’s like I became She-Hulk.
It was at my mother-in-law’s house. I couldn’t control my emotions and I was flipping a pillow around and using it to sweep things to the side, and throwing things around.
My husband and my mother-in-law took my elder daughter out of the room while I stayed inside, trying to cool myself down. I still can’t explain where that intense energy and rage came from.
I didn’t have the answers until I started to go deeper into my own healing and my own journey. Because I was managing so well, nobody — not even I myself — could tell that there was something wrong.
I saw a psychiatrist who said I had remnants of postpartum depression. That was when I started to be very conscious and intentional about how I spent my time.
(See also: THIS MUM GIVES VOICE TO POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION TO HELP OTHER NEW PARENTS)
Arriving at a State of Peace with the Birth of her Third Child
All my girls were born at 39 weeks and one day of gestation. With the first and the second, it was very normal. I had contractions, I went to the hospital, and I gave birth. I had no expectations that the third one would be completely different.
We had dinner as usual, and I was at home when contractions started. I was just going around the house, drinking water, swaying, and breathing through my contractions because I didn’t feel like going to the hospital. But labour progressed quickly.
At around 3am my husband woke up. It’s like his body could sense that something was up. My husband sleeps a lot and it is usually hard to wake him up. But that night, he just got up on his own. I told him that maybe it was time to go to the hospital.
The moment I said that out loud, it’s like my body had a mental shift. Then another contraction came and I thought, ‘Okay, I think the baby is going to come now’.
I told him, ‘Be prepared that the baby might come out at home’.
Welcoming Baby at Home
We started getting ready to go. We took my hospital bag and made our way out towards the lift. As we walked out of the house, a big contraction came. I told my husband, ‘I don’t think we can make it to the hospital’.
He didn’t believe me. We got into the lift, which is 10 steps away from the door. Inside the lift, I had one more big contraction.
I told him, ‘I’m not joking. Baby’s coming’. And he saw that my face had changed, and he said, ‘Okay, go back home’.
And then I had one more contraction. After that I put my hand down below, and I could feel the baby there.
I had four more contractions, and the baby was really crowning, so yes I was walking like a duck back home.
Cherish’s Home Birth
There was this adrenaline rush, but somehow I was very calm and rational. I told my husband, ‘Call the ambulance’. He grabbed a mattress from the room and put it on the floor in the doorway between the bedroom and the living room.
Then I could feel that the baby was coming so I shouted to him, ‘Catch the baby now!’ and he threw down the phone and made a dive and caught the baby.
I can’t explain it. It was very instinctual, very primal. There was no time to rehearse; we just knew what to do. He only had one job, which was to catch the baby.
After the baby was out, I sat down, and he passed the baby to me.
It sounds wild, but it was very peaceful, if that makes sense. It was such beautiful, peaceful chaos. Would I do it again? A hundred per cent, yes.
Third Time’s the Charm
The SCDF came and we were brought to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. I am so glad we had the SCDF paramedics with us. They are so gentle, so respectful. They stayed with me at the hospital until everything was okay. Cherish and I went home the next day.
I asked my husband if he had trauma from the home birth with Cherish. He said, ‘No, I feel like a hero!’
Since I opened Kindle Space, I’ve heard many stories of women whose husbands caught their babies when the doctor did not get to the delivery room in time. It’s a primal intelligence that we think we don’t have, but actually do.
At home, there is a blood stain on the floor that we could not clean off. Every time I walk past it I’m like, yeah, it’s here. I love it. It’s like there is perfection in the imperfection. My husband likes it too, and that is Cherish’s favorite spot; she sits there and plays with her toys.
(See also: RAMADAN FASTING DURING PREGNANCY: HOW TO DO IT SAFELY)
Kindle Space for Community and Healing
I opened Kindle Space when Cherish was four months old. My teachers and I went for a course on perinatal mental health last year, and when we were doing the training I was like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s me’. I’m going through therapy, and it’s been very healing for me.
We work closely together with the clinic that the trainer is associated with. We have new mother support group meetings where we bring counselors into this space, so new mothers can speak up and seek help without fear.
I opened Kindle Space to offer a safe space for this community. They come here, and we talk about their struggles. Maybe they don’t have any. Or they just do yoga. Maybe they just make friends and be happy.
I see them from the time they are pregnant, throughout pregnancy, and beyond, as we have mother-and-baby classes that many come back for. We also have music and movement classes for babies, and community events.
(See also: WHAT IS POSTNATAL CONFINEMENT AT KAI SINGAPORE LIKE? THIS MUM SHARES HER REVIEW)
A Future for her Girls
I didn’t open Kindle Space after my first child for practical reasons. We did not have enough savings back then, and I was not mature enough. I felt like I was not good enough. There was a lot of self doubt.
With my second and now my third child, I feel like I’m ready. I’m in a better head space. My ‘village’ is here around me, and the children are also a little bit bigger.
I would say it cost me my entire life savings. I also gave up my own personal insurance to open this space. My mother-in-law is a sponsor too, because she believes in my dream. I haven’t had a salary for the last two years, which can be very scary. So I’m truly living life every day thanks to other people’s grace and God’s grace.
I have two big plans. One is to open more spaces, especially in the west and the north. And the second one is to work closely with hospitals. They are the experts in providing medical care. But I hope that we can have more synergy, so that I can offer emotional care.
Ultimately, my daughters are the reason why I opened the studio. In fifteen, 20 years’ time, I hope that Singapore will be a better place to be pregnant and give birth. What I really want is for my daughters to love their body and to realise that a woman’s body is amazing, with our ability to give birth, and to raise children. Even at their young age now, my daughters are not scared of pregnancy or birth. Every time we go out and they see a pregnant woman, they ask, ‘Mummy? Is that your friend?’”
All images: Ho Kin Ing
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