WHEN Vanessa Brothwell found out she was pregnant she was over the moon. But worries about the birth nine months down the line were understandably niggling at the back of her mind.

"We are bombarded with images of women screaming while in labour on TV programmes," the London Road resident said.

"And all everyone hears about are horror stories about how painful it is and all that gets passed on to you as soon as you tell people you are pregnant."

So when one of Vanessa's colleagues told her his wife was training to teach 'hypnobirth' techniques to pregnant women - a method claiming to replace the fear and tension that cause long labour and pain with confidence, calm and comfort - she leapt at the chance to be a guinea pig.

Hypnobirthing was developed 13 years ago in the US by Marie Mongan and is a unique method based on hypnosis to provide all the tools and techniques to feel comfortable, in control and relaxed as you tune in with your body in childbirth.

The philosophy works on the premise that fear leads to tension, which in turn leads to pain. It claims that by breaking the perception that pain is a necessary accompaniment to labour, mothers-to-be are empowered to experience childbirth feeling confident and in control. The body's natural anaesthesia - endorphins - will replace the stress hormones that create pain.

"I always knew that I wanted a natural birth without any pain relief and when I heard about hypnobirthing it made me more confident that I could go through with it," Vanessa, an architect, said.

"And the philosophy makes so much sense - if you are relaxed then the baby is relaxed."

Vanessa, 31, learned the hypnobirthing techniques over five two-and-a-half hour sessions before the 35th week of her pregnancy - this allowed her to continue practising them right up until the birth.

"A lot of the course was about breathing techniques," she said. "But it also includes positive thinking, deep relaxation, visualisations, and positions which take you through labour and delivery.

"And you are also shown exactly how the body works throughout pregnancy and how it is designed to work in harmony during labour.

"The course is brilliant and one of the real benefits was that my husband Dan could really get involved as well."

When Vanessa went into labour at home at 4am on Tuesday, February 8 she found it easy to put what she had learned into practice.

"I had always planned to have a home birth and I managed to go right through to 9am with no problems," she said.

"Unfortunately, at that point the labour stopped and I was taken into Worcestershire Royal Hospital and put on a drip to speed things up a bit," she said.

"But I carried on with the techniques I had been taught and gave birth to Lola at 11am without needing any pain relief at all.

"It was a wonderful experience and a really lovely thing to do.

"And since Lola has been with us she has been a very calm baby and I think that could be because her birth was so calm and I was relaxed through it."

Now Vanessa is hoping that the course will become available on the NHS so that more women can experience the benefits of hypnobirthing.

To find out more information about the techniques, and your nearest certified practitioner, visit www.hypnobirthing.com