Big I guess I believe that less can go wrong with a vaginal birth than a c/s which is major surgery. There is no reason (I'm aware of) you should have an exceptionally long labour - and there is lots of advice on this forum to help you have a positive vaginal birth. Our bodies are designed to birth our babies - YOU CAN DO IT!!! But chat to your doc or midwife, its what they are there for.

As for not wanting your partner to see...mine stayed by my head and didn't see any of the messy stuff He's a bit of a sook. But that said - there's lots of potential embarrassment during labour (I pooed myself multiple times whilst pushing AND tore and needed stitched - DS had a BIIIGGG head ) but I was WAAAAYYY more concerned about meeting my beautiful boy and was not fazed at all at the time!

You'll know whats right for you when the time comes - good luck!