Birthing my two beautiful daughters (now age 3yrs and 15mths) were the most empowering experiences of my life. My mother was a doula in the eighties, so birth was a natural experience that was always talked about in our home with great admiration and beauty. These expectations were reached with both my births (first was induced and second was a spontaneous HB). I had hyperemesis in both my pregnancies so they were very difficult and far from textbook, but although I felt so unwell during this time, I was not afraid of birth or the birthing process. I knew that I could do it, without pain relief or interuption, and I did. For most women this can be a reality, medical intervention is there for those women who require it otherwise women need to trust that they can do it.