Georgia Leach can’t remember the last time she was ill. In her entire life she hasn’t met her GP, has never taken an antibiotic and has never stepped in a hospital.

While most of us are well-versed in avoiding spluttering patients in doctors’ waiting rooms, for the 19-year-old it’s quite the opposite.

She cites her most serious illness as chicken pox when she was six.

According to the teenager her good health is down to her mum, Sue, who has brought her up using the alternative medicine homeopathy.

She has suffered from colds and minor scrapes and bruises but nothing the plants and mineral remedies cannot fix.

Georgia, who is currently teaching English in China said: “My most serious illness to date is chicken pox when I was six which passed pretty uneventfully without the use of various drugs, just homeopathic remedies.

“I’ve never taken antibiotics or any other prescription medicine – I don’t even know who my doctor is.

“I get coughs and colds just like everyone else but instead of taking a cocktail of pills that only serve to mask the symptoms I use homeopathic remedies, which strengthen the immune system and help the body fight off the illness by itself.”

Sue was introduced to the remedies after suffering from mastitis when Georgia was a newborn.

She was then spurred on to reinvent herself following her marriage breakdown and she took the bold step of leaving her career as a journalist in the city to retrain as a homeopath.

Sue, who runs Boldre Homeopathic Practice from her New Forest home and specialises in helping women, children and babies with an emphasis on emotional health, explained she wanted a natural life for her baby.

It’s estimated that around 30 million people in Europe visit homeopaths and here in the UK the therapy has had many high-profile supporters including the Queen, Sir Paul McCartney, Jude Law and David Beckham.

Homeopathic remedies differ from conventional drug-related treatments by using raw extracts from plants or animals, or powders of minerals and salts made into a ‘tincture’ and mixed with alcohol.

They treat a variety of conditions from sore throats and chronic illnesses such as arthritis through to asthma, anxiety and chronic fatigue.

Patients are given tiny diluted doses of something that causes symptoms similar to those they are already experiencing. So coffee, which uses sleep disturbance, can be used as a homeopathic treatment to prevent insomnia. The theory is that a minute quantity will stimulate the body's own healing powers without side effects.

newforesthomeopathy.co.uk