Birth centers are usually cozy, attractive, and relaxing places to deliver a child. If complications arise, a mother can be quickly transported to a hospital. Some midwives will assist home births, and consider a wide range of delivery options including water birth in a bathtub or portable tub. But it's manageable, and knowing what to expect will go a long way toward coping. By reading books and taking classes to learn about the Lamaze or Bradley method, a woman can learn what to expect in each stage of labor, and understanding what her body is doing can take the fear from the process.
Fear is the number one enemy during childbirth.
Remaining relaxed not only makes the contractions more bearable, it also helps the labor progress more smoothly. A woman should be encouraged toward any position but flat on her back, and should be out of bed as long as possible. Transition, which occurs just before it's time to push out the baby, is the time in which a woman will likely decide in no uncertain terms that she's made a horrible mistake and her world is about to end unless somebody makes it all go away. Fortunately it doesn't last long, and knowing it will happen makes encouraging the laboring woman more effective. I encourage any woman who is enjoying a pregnancy free of complications or special concerns to pursue a natural childbirth.