I know what you mean, with my first, it caused HUGE problems with my decision to have DH & I only, that I barely saw my mother for the second half of the third trimester and after she was born - it was vary rarely she came over and we still don't see each other much, so it's had long reaching effects for me, I really struggled to cope with my first as DH worked terribly long hours and no family came to see me.

However, I wouldn't have done it differently, who knows I could have had a caesar or something due to being anxious and labour shutting down or slowing (which it had already done, I had to be augmented with a drip) so I think it's really important not to give in to people you will not feel comfortable with being there - your birth can go down a completely different path. Its also important the people who are with you have had the birth you are hoping for - often mums have had bad birth experiences, lots of intervention, caesareans - so they don't understand what it takes to get through. They will have the fear factor for you, sympathy etc when you need encouragement and affirmation.

Hmmmmm... wonder who that frequent poster might be?!