In March, the Gazette reported the remarkable tale of a mother giving birth to twins using hypnobirthing techniques. Since then, the number of mothers opting for a more natural birth has more than doubled in South Lakeland. Reporter Patrick Christys takes a look at what the latest birthing phenomenon is all about.

SCREAMING, crying and unbelievable pain are all things one associates with giving birth, but not anymore.

A new technique is fast becoming a favourite of expectant mothers, except it is not new at all, it has been around since the dawn of time.

Hypnobirthing, a deep relaxation labour technique, has made headlines recently after it was endorsed by celebrity mothers such as Angelina Jolie and Jessica Alba - but more than 100 South Lakeland mums also swear by it.

It is being used by mothers who want to take control over their birth, who do not want to be forced into taking excessive medication or having a caesarean section by what is regarded in the hypnobirthing world as "an over-medicalised National Health Service."

The technique focuses on making the mother as relaxed as possible through a combination of breathing exercises and positive affirmation - reinforcing the good things that happen during childbirth.

The plan is to remove fear from the experience, reducing the level of pain and, therefore, the need for medication.

Janet Naylor, from Kendal, is at the forefront of the area's shift towards hypnobirthing. She is a midwife who runs hypnobirthing lessons and her business has risen by close to 100 per cent in the last year alone.

She feels that society is going to see a change in the way it views giving birth, that there will be a movement towards a more natural approach and that the number of home births will also rise as a result.

"There's still a lot of people who think it's for hippies," she said. "Someone knocked on my door and said: 'You look so normal' and I said: '"Well, what did you expect?'.

"It's deep relaxation. The idea is that if mum is calm then baby is calm and in control.

"It's nothing weird or cookie - it's common sense. It's natural to do because years ago people didn't need all these tranquillizers, they just gave birth surrounded by their family. It was just what women did.

"Hypnobirthing is not about promising the perfect birth, it's about teaching the mother not to focus on what might happen, those what ifs, but to focus on the positives so the mother is calm and confident if things go wrong."

The Gazette attended a 'hypnobaby' meeting for parents and babies who had recently been born using Janet's techniques to find out what it was really like to have an un-medicated birth.

"I wouldn't describe it as pain," said Rachel Galley, from Kendal, whose son Valentino was born 12 weeks ago.

"I would have happily done it again the next day. I had gone into my own world but I could still answer questions. It was like an out of body experience.

"Midwives are very keen to tell you what to do and what you need but, actually, you can make the decisions about it yourself. You need to feel comfortable - like it's your own experience rather than you being told how to do it."

Two traumatic births forced Abi Harris to look for something different when she fell pregnant with her twins, Florence and Sam, and she hosted the hypnobaby meeting at Parkhouse Farm, Heversham, a popular wedding destination.

After a peaceful labour she now swears by hypnobirthing and claims she can even see a big difference between the twins that were brought into the world when she was in a positive state of mind and her eldest two who were not.

Abi said: "I totally believe that every woman has the right to the birth she wants - give women a bit more space. I would never take an inappropriate risk with my children and I feel proud that I could deliver them naturally without any medical intervention. It was a real plus for me to get away from the medical side of it - that was key for my emotional wellbeing. I feel really positive that I have been able to do that.

"It opened the eyes of a lot of staff at the hospital by letting nature take its course.

"With my other two children, Andreas and Isla, they wouldn't sleep for more than an hour-and-a-half at a time but these two at just six months old will sleep right through the night. They feed off your emotions."

And Abi claims that the skills she learnt during pregnancy are still coming in handy as she is 'still using the techniques to relax into the role of a mother'.