The emotions feel so real, it takes her a while to realise it was only a dream and the event she dreads most isn’t actually happening – she isn’t giving birth.

“I only have to read about a woman going through labour for my hands to shake and my face to become hot and clammy,” says Eleonora, 35, from Hampshire.

Ironically, Eleonora is a nurse, which has only made things worse.

“At college we learnt all about what can go wrong during birth,” she explains.

“The horrific accounts of ruptures, torn muscles, stitches and bladder damage made me feel sick.

"It seemed to be that your body is never the same again.”

Eleonora is one of an increasing number of women who admit to suffering from tokophobia – an extreme and morbid fear of childbirth.

The condition affects up to one in six women, and is the unacknowledged cause of many choosing to remain childless.

Birth phobia can strike even the most grounded of women.

Actress Helen Mirren – who’s 62 and has never had children – confessed in a recent interview that watching a harrowing video of childbirth at 13 put her off having babies for life.

“It traumatised me to this day,” she revealed.

“I haven’t had children and I can’t look at anything to do with childbirth.

"It absolutely disgusts me.”

The first study of tokophobia took place in 2000 by psychiatrists Dr Kristina Hofberg and Professor Ian Brockington of South Staffordshire NHS Trust.

They interviewed 370 childless women and discovered one in seven of them had postponed or avoided pregnancy because of a dread of childbirth.

“This is more than just a fear of pregnancy,” said Dr Hofberg.

“It’s a pathological terror that, in its most extreme form, can result in women taking steps to abort by behaving recklessly, abusing alcohol or drugs, or even punching their abdomens."

Since marrying engineer Paul 18 months ago, Eleonora’s fear of pregnancy has reached fever pitch.

She told him about her phobia of childbirth early in their relationship, but suspects he believes she’ll just get over it.

“He tried to be sympathetic, but I guess he thinks I’m just being silly,” she says.

“Paul is desperate to be a dad and I think he hopes it’s just a matter of time.”

Eleonora is so terrified of giving birth that in spite of being on the pill, she finds herself making excuses not to have sex.

“I feel guilty because I love Paul and don’t want to hurt him.

"But at weekends I’ll get up early and plan a manic day of activity so we’re too exhausted to make love,” she says.

For some birth phobics, there is a happy outcome.

In 2006, Nichola Cooke, 24, from Plymouth, won her battle to have her baby delivered by Caesarean after complaining her consultant hadn’t taken her fear of giving birth seriously.

“I can’t imagine anything freakier than a natural birth,” she revealed.

Gillian Fletcher, who has been teaching birthing classes for 35 years, advises: “Find a midwife or obstetrician who can empathise with you and talk through the birthing process.

Discover just how your body works to accommodate the baby.”

Counselling can also help, and some doctors may offer you a planned Caesarean.

The real tragedy is the women who long for children but, because of their fears, leave it too late – then regret it.

Eleonora realises that this is a very real risk for her.

“There’s only so long I can avoid this,” she admits.

“But I know I would have to change something buried deep in my psyche before I could even consider pregnancy.”

Everyone knows giving birth is painful but would it actually put you off having a baby? Have you decided to remain childless because of the thought? Do you think these women can over-come their fears? Is having a baby worth the pain?

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Photography: Lancton, Giles Park; Hair and Make-Up: Oonagh Connor, Sara Bowden