I think it is a reflection on a birth environment where women are not truly supported and cared for in their labours and birth.

So people that call someone naive or brave or something along those lines they are merely commenting on an environment that is the normal situation: it is really really hard and lonely to have an empowered positive natural birth without love and support of high quality (and I mean, people that know and understand and support normal birth) and knowledgeable birth support surrounding you.

I guess for many, the idea of achieving a true hypno-waterbirth is unimaginable if their only exposure to birth is ala: OBEM, where you have midwives and OBs pressuring for a medicalised approach and reliance on machines to monitor birth rather than their own set of birth skills and innate understanding and respect of a physiological birth.

In respect to the upcoming new royal birth...I can only hope and assume that she has a wonderful birth support team that understands how important birth experience is and will help guide her to have her and baby's best birth possible, come what may. that is what we should all be striving for.