Birth isn't just the birth of babies, it's the birth of mothers. Pregnancy and labour and birth all help to prepare not just the body but the mind and the heart for what's to come. So yeah, I rekon it's extreemly important! The way I explained it to my my bubs father was that, it's like your wedding (except to me, more important). On your wedding you become a wife, which has certain expectations of giving and recieving attached to it, and when you give birth, you become a mother . . . and being a mother means you take on 50 000 x more responsibility than you already have! It's the beginning of a whole new life, not just bubs, but yours! I've only had one baby but I'm sure that the ladies who've had more than one find each of their labours to be a profound experience. Even if you're already a mother, you become a new mother every time you have a baby, iykwim?

I think we do need to be flexible though, because sometimes things just don't go the way we want them to. But being too flexible in a hospital setting often leads to unncessary medical invervention. Though having a good doula can help with that