@FartnissEverbeans
Less than half of births have interventions. That is not the same as requiring them. Clinicians in maternity care are INCREDIBLY risk averse, to the point where carrying and delivering a child is extensively pathologised. If you look at how rates of induction and section have risen in recent decades, with no comparable parallel decrease in infant or maternal mortality, this is quite obvious. Intervention is often done for the sake of having done something, especially induction. Stillbirth after 40 weeks is still incredibly uncommon; but induction at 40-42 weeks has become standard, and the number of women induced for big baby/small baby/too much water/not enough water are enormous. Induction itself often leads to a cascade of interventions, chiefly epidural as the pain is often worse and contractions closer together, and epidural reduces your chances of delivering without assistance (forceps, ventouse, ultimately C-section for "failure to progress") because an exhausted, frightened, demoralised woman, strapped to a bunch of monitors whilst lying semi-paralysed on a bed, is not on an optimum position to deliver a baby.
To suggest the rates of intervention are any indication of the viability of natural birth is nonsense unless you really dig into what those interventions were, the reasons for them and at what stage they occurred.
OP, it is completely up to you. You know as well as anyone it is absolutely your right to choose to give birth in the way you feel happiest and safest.
Personally I had 2 x EMCS, neither "one of you is in imminent danger of dying" emergencies but both unplanned and necessary. First birth was as described above - induced for postdates, terrible long painful labour with baby back to back, eventual epidural as could no longer cope with the pain, failure to progress, terrible mismanaged C-section, trauma it took me a while to get over.
Was determined to have a VBAC for second baby, a HBAC actually. But meconium in waters put paid to the H, and after a very swiftly progress to active labour (got to 3 contractions in 10 minutes within an hour of waters breaking), baby's heart rate failing to recover between contractions soon stuffed up the V. I had the choice between an epidural to enable constant monitoring and blood gas testing of baby, as they were worried about her oxygen, or a c section, and I chose the section as I knew from experience where this was going and saw no need to drag it out.
My second section was done really sensitively and my recovery both physical and mental was good - this was entirely down to feeling empowered by knowledge and research to assert my wishes, to make decisions, and also really stellar aftercare and PROPER PAIN RELIEF AFTER THE SURGERY - expecting women who have just been cut in half to make do with fucking paracetamol is one of the cruellest jokes in maternity care IMO. Can't think of any abdominal surgery men might be subjected to where this would be expected.
Even given how it ended, I wouldn't have gone for an ELCS second time round (although that option was open to me after first section). It was important to me to go into labour and labour naturally as I'd always blamed myself for agreeing to the induction (not that I realised I could refuse, that was not made at all clear to me at the time!) for how things went afterwards. It means a lot to me that I know no what it feels like to go into labour, to contract, to progress, and to push - I'll never now know what it's like to bring my own baby into the world, which I am sad about, but it just wasn't meant to be and I'm reconciled to that now. Also, second surgeon did a bang up job on my wound and tidied up the mess the previous dickhead had made, so that was nice 
I'm wondering if going into labour and labouring is something you want to experience? If so, why not plan for s hospital birth and then just lean very much on the side of caution if you feel like things aren't going well/getting out of hand - you can request a section during labour and as long as it's still physically possible they should provide it.
If on the other hand you don't think you'd have any regrets about not labouring naturally, then ELCS is a perfectly legitimate option - not without risk, and statistically less risky than natural birth, but as you point out statistics become a bit irrelevant when it's your completely unique experience, baby and anatomy.
My best advice would be to research EVERYTHING, know your legal rights as a birthing person and be prepared to be difficult if you have to (sorry to say this to you as a doctor, but health professionals can be very "this is what we're going to do" to labouring women and you need to have gumption to stand up to them and remind them it is YOUR choice, always). I had so much better a second birth because I was so informed and empowered compared to birth one where I just did whatever I was told as things got worse and worse and worse.