It has been described as a cult and has garnered negative publicity over its female members giving birth in silence. But one North Yorkshire man tells Lindsay Jennings that Scientology has transformed his life - and his wife screamed during birth.

WHEN Katie Holmes was wheeled into the delivery room yesterday, it is likely she had the dishevelled look of a mum-to-be in pain. She may also have wanted to throttle her Hollywood star fiance, Tom Cruise, for getting her pregnant in the first place.

But similarities to most other births probably ended there. Instead of the midwife shouting "PUSH, PUSH!" in encouragement or Tom shouting "come on darling, you can do it" in her ear, little Suri Cruise will have been born into a relatively silent world.

Tom and Katie are Scientologists. They believe that babies need to be born into as relaxing an environment as possible and that those born to screams and shouts can end up suffering emotional problems in years to come.

Aside from his jokes about eating his wife-to-be's placenta, Tom is one of Scientology's most ardent followers and is certainly one of its most famous. Along with his fellow celebrity endorsers - John Travolta included - the religion of Scientology has been garnering a great deal of publicity of late, much of it negative.

Reports have varied, from the belief that its members are descended from aliens to the notion that its followers are not allowed to receive medical treatment for mental illnesses and that it is opposed to psychiatry. Its activities have been criticised by other religions and governments. Germany refuses to recognise it, claiming it is focused on making money from its followers. It is known for being extremely litigious as an organisation and quick to act against those who denigrate it. An episode of South Park entitled Trapped in the Closet was pulled last month after alleged pressure from the church.

Scientology - which means "knowing how to know" - was founded by science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard with the first church created in Los Angeles in 1954. In more than 500,000 pages of writings, 2,000 tape recorded public lectures, and best-selling books, Hubbard laid out the foundations for the religion, the somewhat ambitious aim of which was to create a world without "insanity, war or crime".

Scientology is based on the principles that man is a spirit known as a 'thetan', a spirit which can control the mind or the body, which may have existed for millions of years.

Through 'auditing' sessions, members work through their fears and irrational thoughts and progress along a number of levels known as "the bridge". The aim is to bring a person to the point where they are capable of sorting out their own problems, whatever they may be, and overcome the negative factors which can hold them back until they reach a freeing of the human spirit known as a State of Clear. Tom Cruise has reached this level, as has Tom Pickering, a plain-talking Yorkshireman and owner of a transport firm in York.

Mr Pickering, 49, first became a Scientologist more than 25 years ago. A friend lent him one of Hubbard's books containing the theories behind Scientology and it struck a chord.

"I was interested in the way they did a lot of things for the community," says Mr Pickering, who lives near Goole, east Yorkshire, and has spoken to thousands of schoolchildren about the dangers of drugs. "For people who were having trouble with their education they had some drop-in centres where you could get help with their reading. They run drug prevention programmes. I found it was about helping other people."

Mr Pickering grew up in a Christian family and always believed that "people were spiritual". But he laughs out loud at some of the reports that Scientologists believe man was descended from aliens.

There have been claims that when members reach a higher level they learn the "hidden truth" about the universe - that an extra-terrestrial called Xenu kidnapped an overpopulation of aliens and brought them to Earth before blowing them up with hydrogen bombs. The thetans then acted as invisible spiritual parasites, attaching themselves to humans which can only be removed by using advanced Scientology techniques. Xenu is said to be still alive, allegedly imprisoned in a mountain somewhere.

"We just believe we're spiritual people," says Mr Pickering, laughing. "We don't believe we came to earth in a spaceship. I'm just a normal guy - I watch football on a weekend."

Mr Pickering's nearest Church of Scientology is in Sunderland but he finds it easier to travel to Manchester. He goes about twice a year.

He, too, has been through the auditing programme in order to free his spirit. He declines to go into details about his own personal experiences, but according to Scientology's official website, a person known as an auditor sits in a room with a 'preclear' (those who have yet to reach a State of Clear) and asks a standard set of questions to help locate areas of spiritual distress. Most auditors use an E-meter, a device which measures skin responses to help in the assessment.

"You can get traumatic incidents and they can ruin your life; people can also get phobias, so what we're trying to do is get rid of the phobias," he says.

One of the criticisms of Scientology has been the cost of some of the courses. Mr Pickering says he's only spent about £30 on his introductory course and was happy with it, but then concedes the auditing sessions can cost about £1,000, of which he's had several.

"If you want to sort something out in your life and you do it until you feel OK about it, if you know it works for you, then you're happy," he says.

He met his wife, Caren, through friends of the church and has two children, Rachel, 28, and Tia, 11. So, did Caren have a silent birth?

"Oh no, she was screaming," he says. "I think that's been taken out of context - we haven't got anything that says you do that. We have something which says it's a good idea not to have lots of people shouting and running around but the last thing you want is anyone shouting or running around anyway. When Tia was born we had it fairly quiet but the doctors were great. We promote drug-free births but then if you're having a baby and it's really painful... it's not like one of those things which you absolutely musn't do."

Rachel no longer practises Scientology, he says, but "that's her choice, she's just not a very religious person".

He feels offended by some of the comments he reads about and admits he mostly keeps his religion to himself.

"There are a few things, like the alien thing, which hurt me personally because I'm a normal person and sometimes I think if I was a Jew I wouldn't be getting persecuted but because I'm a Scientologist it's OK," he says. "I understand a lot of people must be a bit inquisitive so I think it's good to speak out. The more people know we haven't got two heads or we're not Martians, that's a good thing."

Tom Cruise often speaks out about the religion and his words caused a huge backlash last year when he publicly criticised Brooke Shields, who had suffered from post-natal depression. He suggested that, rather than taking anti-depressants (Scientologists are against taking drugs for psychiatric problems) she should take vitamins instead.

Mr Pickering would rather not be drawn into the debate but says: "I'm big on exercise. I don't believe I would (take anti-depressants) but I don't know."

Four years prior to creating the religion, Hubbard is reported to have told an authors' conference: "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars he should start his own religion." Today, there are more than 6,000 Scientology churches, missions and groups in 159 countries across the world.

But Mr Pickering believes it has changed his life for the better.

"I've achieved such a lot in my life because of it. It's helped me with my business and to become a better person and I wouldn't have achieved those things without Scientology."