I had both my girls at a free standing birth center with a midwife, and it was a very positive experience. I can't imagine not having had the midwife there though as a guide. Molly went into some breathing distress a few hours after birth and I would have been too out of it and inexperienced to realize it until it became more dramatic and perhaps too late.

With Eliza things were picture perfect except for some tight shoulders which the midwife easily remedied with suprapubic pressure-something I'm just not flexible enough to do on my own.

I don't think even thousands of years ago women gave birth totally alone.There must have been midwives, or more experienced older women around.

And yeah, I'm a pediatric OT so every day I see the consequences of when it went wrong. Also have a nephew with cerebral palsy. Birth accidents are common and devastating. I may be a buzz kill but health of Mom and Babe is more important thatn Mom's "experience."

I have a dear friend who thankfully is not on your flist who makes me a little nuts because she is preg with twins and is very kerfuffled by her caregivers wanting to be more cautious, and she is very consumed by the experience she wants to have and doesn't feel she got with her first child.I'm as anti medical model as the next crunchy hippie, but there are priorities to be considered.

I think it's a balance and very individual to the Mama and her pregnancy. Even still, just her and her partner being at the birth seems unwise to me.