Gentle Birth Method

Childbirth guru Dr Gowri Motha, who practises with Dr Yehudi Gordon - author of Birth and Beyond - shows women how her revolutionary method helps women carry the baby to full term, have less intervention in the birth; feel less pain in labour, and feel happy and in control.

• The Gentle Birth method is a concise pregnancy programme combining diverse therapies such as 'creative healing' massage, a simple diet, self-hypnosis, reflexology and affirmation techniques
• The method was created by Dr Gowri Motha as an alternative to conventional obstetric practise, when she became alarmed at the increasing number of women needing intervention during their births. It teaches expectant mothers how to train their bodies and minds in order to reduce or prevent complications during pregnancy and labour.
• This book outlines the Method, with a month-by-month programme explaining how to rebalance the body and tailor it to the optimum condition for the birthing process. It includes guides to treating problems such as:
  - back pain
  - nausea
  - heartburn
  - fluid retention
  - stretch marks
• The programme offers women a formal framework in which to prepare their bodies and so avoid facing a labour that is unnecessarily long, arduous and traumatic, with significantly lower uptakes of pain relief.

Dr Gowri Motha has worked as an obstetrician in London since 1981. After opening her practice, The Jeyarani Way, in 1987, she spent 15 years assimilating diverse therapies that became the basis of the Gentle Birth Method. She now works alongside the birthing unit at the prestigious St John and Elizabeth's Hospital and the NHS are increasingly looking to incorporate her methods into their own obstetric programmes. She has helped various celebrities through their pregnancies, including Kate Moss, Sadie Frost and Elle McPherson.

Karen Swan MacLeod is a journalist who, as well as working as Senior Commissioning Editor at You Magazine, has contributed to titles including Sunday Times, the FT, Tatler and Vogue. She is a former patient of Dr Motha and has experienced the programme first-hand.