I’m pregnant with my first baby and I’m getting increasingly worried about the pain of childbirth, but would prefer to avoid an epidural. What can I do to make labour easier to cope with?

MARGERET JOWITT, author of Dynamic Positions in Birth (Pinter & Martin, £12.99), says: “It’s not surprising that you’re feeling apprehensive about the birth. Labour will be a totally new sensation, quite unlike anything you’ve experienced before.

“Your uterus will contract (tighten) as if it has a mind of its own and this can feel disconcerting. To be honest, it doesn’t help that contractions are often called labour pains.

When you think you’re feeling your first contractions, concentrate on the sensation, get to know what it feels like.

“The contractions that follow should feel the same, but stronger, which can be very uncomfortable, but not necessarily painful.

“Your uterus is doing the work of labour, gradually opening up the exit for your baby, and your main job is to help it work efficiently.

“You need to aim at relaxing the rest of your body. Breathe through your contractions, and get your partner to remind you to relax.

“It also helps enormously to be able to shift your body around to find comfortable positions. This usually means keeping off the bed, staying upright and leaning forward. Take a kneeling mat into the hospital with you and a couple of cushions, and ask for a birth ball.

“Midwives can help you find comfortable positions. Women labouring upright need less pain relief and have shorter labours, so you will probably find you won’t need an epidural.”