Good question! I don't see it as an achievement that is to be gloated about, but for me, it is all about post-birth healing. Of course if you have a bad tear there is a risk of poor repair which may lead to further problems down the track. Some women tear so badly that they need surgical repair and that is something that you would never wish on anyone! Of my 4, I have had an epi, two 2nd deg tears and a small graze which required no stitches, so technically while I have never not-torn, I have experienced post birth without stitches and it was awesome!!!! When I was pg with my first, I read a book that said some Drs will do an epi as routine for first time Mums, so I asked my Dr about it and he said that he only ever did it if it needed to be done. He explained that he preferred women to tear so he didn't have to cut. Obviously he was happier still if women didn't tear at all. So while I did end up with an epi with my first birth because I was starting to tear straight down and my Dr wanted to avoid having a tear going down towards the rectum, I don't regret that, because as DH said at the time, there was 'no way known he was going to come out unless it was done' and he had spectacular head moulding at birth. I just think that being post birth without stitches is wonderful because when you have to do the first poo after giving birth you don't have to worry about popping a stitch ROFL! But after the first 3 births when I had stitches I was terrified of having to do a poo and took laxatives and painkillers before I needed to go so it didn't hurt as much plus I also had to support the area while I did it by holding a pad against my perenium - TMI possibly that is the reality of it.

So no, I don't think that by not tearing a woman has in some way had a better birth than one who did tear. You may have a woman tear that had a completely drug-free hands-off birth from start to finish and used every birth position known to mankind that would help reduce tearing, but a woman who didn't tear may have had given birth completely loaded on pain relief and flat on her back. It is all about perspective. If you think you had a great birth whether you tore or not is fantastic and no one can take that away from you simply because they didn't tear themselves.