Midwives have told me that a natural tear is usually better. If you tear, it might be only through skin. An episiotomy is ALWAYS through muscle. Exceptions when an episiotomy would be better, are if it looked like you were going to tear badly---if you felt like you couldn't control the pushing at all--or if the baby is in distress & needs forceps or vacuum.
For me, avoiding an episiotomy was my no 1 concern in giving birth!! With DS no 2, the pushing stage lasted a very long time, so i was completely numb from pressure & stayed numb for hours afterward. No episiotomy, even though he delivered face up. If I had needed one, I would not have felt it anyway! I had a tiny tear, which felt like a paper cut for a day or two. It wasn't gaping so it wasn't stitched.
With DS no 3, pushing was much shorter & I had no numbness after delivery.No episiotomy or tears. With both, I did listen carefully to the midwife as far as when to push, when to blow. The other births were c/secs.
You can ask at the hospital about their episiotomy rate. One midwife said to me, "You won't have a vaginal caesarean here but you have to understand that if the baby is in distress & needs to come out quickly, you won't have any choice about the episiotomy." That made a lot of sense to me.