I had a really crap birth. Five day induction, ventouse, episiotomy, baby in distress, unmedicated contractions for 13hr without any pain relief at all (not my choice at all).
But you know what stopped me being scared of birth beforehand? The knowledge that you can opt for pain relief. Women throughout the ages who've had to cope with childbirth without medical assistance or pain relief would give their right arm for the options we have available to us. If you don't want to suffer, you don't have to.
I had an epidural as soon as I was allowed one and birthed with it working great the entire labour, I didn't feel a single thing! They told me when to push. Numb from the waist down. It was absolutely fantastic. It meant I was calm, collected, peaceful, fully mentally present, able to experience every moment of the birth without being in a haze or like a wild screaming animal (which is how I was when I was having the unmedicated induced contractions). The pushing was still hard work but not feeling it was such a gift.
After the birth the recovery was a lot longer and more painful than I expected but the epidural meant for me that I was numb for quite a while after I could walk fine, which protected me from some of the worst of the pain. It's a myth that baby comes out and you feel fine, most women experience a degree of pain for quite a while after the baby is actually born and it was good to feel numb for that.
Whatever you decide, just remember that how the birth goes on the day is out of your control, as seductive as it is to think that we have some control over the process. It depends on so many things out of your hands: your body, the baby, baby's positioning and so forth. You don't get a medal or a better baby for doing it one way over another and what matters is that you both come through it physically and emotionally well.
The options are there, use them. You can go through the process of birthing a baby without being in excruciating pain if you so wish. How incredible is that?