It is worth adding here that childbirth is 'naturally' a hazardous thing for women to go through - it always has been and will always continue to be. The way women write it seems that midwives and obstetricians are often portrayed as our enemies and are all incompetent - which is unfair and it just isn't true. I rarely read anything good about the birthing process, or about midwives or about Doctors. Delivery of babies is safer than it has ever been and midwives and obstetricians are human so there must inevitably be negative experiences, but generally they are committed to the safety of the mother and baby. It is very easy for people to criticise in hindsight and those giving opinions on complex medical conditions and difficult decisions which have to be made under difficult, stressed circumstances are irritating. The biggest cause of maternal death in countries with poor health care facilities and, in the past, even in current 1st world countries, is and was childbirth. I just wonder if incontinence, prolapse, awful vaginal tears, maternal or fetal death etc which, like or not, happen and have always happened - that we hear about often, is because of wider communication networks and negative experiences (as opposed to good or Ok experiences), will always - understandably, shout the loudest and be heard the most. These traumas, even with good planning, have always been the possible result of childbirth. Imagine what Queen Victoria's genital regions would have been like after so many childbirths. However, in the past, the detail of these experiences were never/rarely spoken or written about - just like many, many other women's and young girl's important experiences (e.g.childhood labour, service working, prostitution, FGM, breast ironing, childhood brides, rape and many others). The very personal and emotional experience of anybody's child birthing experience must never be negated; what I am saying is that childbirth is painful, (generally), traumatic (often) and we are in a country with good health care facilities (generally - despite what people think), so avoiding many of the traumatic experiences and consequences of a 'naturally' traumatic and 'naturally' hazardous human experience can only ever be limited but never eliminated. Any midwives or obstetricians to send an informed opinion about this please?