well, midwives doing homebirths doesn't sound too bad. Better than most hospital births I'd say. I just hope they're mostly hands-off...It's funny though, how 'money' isn't a guarantee that it's better. I've read this story once, can't remember where could be a midwife who wrote it. Either way, it told the story of a hospital in the US in the 50's I think. There was a separate maternity ward for white women and a place for black women. The black women had their babies, went home not long after and looked perfectly fine. The white women had awful birth experiences, had complications and had to stay in the hospital to recover. There was a white woman who said she wanted what those black women had. She was laughed at. The people told her that these black women were left alone, didn't get pain relief (and therefore had shorter births and better birth experiences). The white (privileged) women had pain relief, were forced to lie on their backs, had many interferences and more problems. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?