A confession: I had always been keen to purchase one of these but it wasn't until I was pregnant that I actually got round to owning one. My sister bought me this ball from Tesco when it was on offer and I have loved it since.

We blew it up as soon as we got it - no pump included but my husband says it's not difficult to blow into it and blow it up that way. What can I say, he must have a pair of very strong lungs ;). I don't and get tired out just blowing up kids party balloons - and I found it to be very comfortable to use.

I used it in labour and found that it made my contractions come stronger and harder. It was also a nice natural pain relief management for me at home, I would wriggle my hips on the gym ball a certain way and it would relieve the pressure I was feeling for the time being.

I was nowhere near the upper weight maximum allowance (125kg or 19st 10lb) and kept thinking I would burst it. Let me tell you, it WON'T BURST! Unless you're over that weight allowance, of course. It's 65cm in diameter and does blow up pretty big, but it deflates very quick so I'd imagine this isn't too much of a big deal.

There are a number of exercises that are recommended in the leaflet that comes with the gym ball but you could just as easily look up videos on YouTube or buy a DVD that is geared towards exercising with a gym ball if you really want to tone up with a gym ball.

As for cleaning well it's a case of a wet cloth over the surface of the ball and letting it dry naturally - viola, cleaned. If you puncture it then I'm sure you could even use a bicycle repair kit on it - it's made of a flexible and rubbery material very much like a thin version of bike tires.

As I said, this was bought for me in the Tesco sale but I have now seen it on Argos for £6.99 so it's worth giving it a go if you're thinking about buying it - after all, if you end up not using it it folds away very neatly and it's the kind of thing that is hot on Ebay so can be punted off if you don't use it.

These balls always remind me of Space Hoppers (remember them!?) without handles and so it's a nice regression therapy when using it ;).