The national rate for epidurals, in which anaesthetic is injected into the spine, numbing all feeling from the waist down, has risen from 17 per cent in 1990 to 24 per cent in 2000, and some hospitals report rates of more than 50 per cent The greatest demand is from educated, middle-class women. Delegates meeting at the Royal College of Midwives' annual conference in Torquay yesterday passed overwhelmingly a motion calling on their council to "explore with user organisations ways of helping women to understand the respective roles of pain and pain relief in labour".Sue Read, a midwife from Yeovil district hospital, Somerset, said: "Epidural rates are rising and because of the side- effects there is concern ... Pain plays an active role in ensuring labour progresses normally. An epidural doesn't always interfere with this, but it does make problems more likely. With help and support women could have a more satisfactory experience as full participants in the birth of their child.". When I heard that I was to be the one to interview Dr Christiane Northrup, gynaecologist and author of a new breakthrough book on the menopause, my first thought was, why me? What was it about me that made people think I was the right woman for the job? Was it my clothes, my skin tone, or the rings under my eyes? I hoped it was just my age: I'm 48.

But I made sure to tell anyone who didn't ask, that, actually, I had not experienced a single symptom yet. For form's sake, I conceded that these were bound to descend on me any day now. But really I was thinking that if I closed my eyes and maybe booked in for a remake, my body would go along with the subterfuge and keep me young forever.Then the book arrived, complete with bright purple cover and lettering so bold you could read it at one end of a train compartment and know that even the man at the other end would Know All Hmmph The Wisdom of Menopause What an oxymoron. I decided that, actually, I would rather not be seen in public with it. After 20-odd years of half-listening to what older women had to say on the subject, I thought I knew all I needed or wanted to know about the great dilemma of the menopause. Either you had HRT and got your life back but turned pear-shaped and died of heart disease, or you went without, and watched your skin turn to grey cr?, except when you were experiencing humiliating hot flushes, and got multiple fractures because of porous bones.But the best thing about being a journalist is that sometimes you have to read things you'd never, ever pick off a shelf.

So now I know that no woman has to face either of the scenarios described above. So long as you understand what is going on in your body and work with the changes, you can avoid or minimise most of the symptoms, while also lowering your chances of heart disease, memory loss, and hormone-related cancer.I also know better than to think of the menopause as a collection of ailments. I'm not entirely convinced that the hormonal shifts and the changes in the wiring of my brain will allow me to turn myself into a stronger, happier, more spiritually attuned person. But this book has changed my attitude to the menopause to the extent that ­ I can hardly believe I'm saying this ­ I'm almost looking forward to it.The book is selling like mad in the US, and the word is that thanks should go to Oprah, who has credited it with giving her a new lease of life.