Miranda Levy, Junior, Pregancy and Baby, December 2004/January 2005The Celebrities: Sadie Frost, Elle Macpherson, Lady Helen Taylor, Donna Air, Gwyneth PaltrowThe Class More a way of life than a class, this regime of diet, exercise and treatments requires total commitment. After a consultation with Dr Motha, patients are seen by her therapists every fortnight – more frequently after 3 weeks – and are treated to reflexology, creative healing massage and reiki. They are also supplied with ayurvedic detox herbs and homeopathic tissue salts. Gowri sees patients at her north London clinic and her home in South Woodford, East London, and runs pre-natal yoga classes at Lotus Lifestyle in Chelsea Harbour as well as 90-minute self-hypnosis classes (in fours) which partners are encouraged to attend.The Highlight Patients are treated to carrot and ginger smoothies and Motha has been known to produce wheat-free muffins.The Ethos “Labour is not something you can turn up and do – you have to train for it.” According to Dr Motha, many problems women experience during labour can be remedied through a holistic programme of diet, exercise and physical treatments. Mothers-to-be are taught tricks such as deep muscle relaxation to speed up cervical dilation, and how to use self-hypnosis to control and reduce pain. She also believes mothers should control their weight gain in order to modulate the size of their baby. This is achieved by following a special eating regime.Key Advice Confidence and calm. According to Karen Swan MacLeod, a former patient who co-wrote Motha’s book, The Gentle Birth Method (HarperCollins £14.99), her patients are eager (!) to experience birth, welcoming contractions as they will bring their baby into their arms. It seems to work – 90 per cent of her births are vaginal, compared with the national average of 79 per cent.The Cost A consultation costs £125 an hour.TEL 020 8530 1146back to Press Cuttings