Yes I agree sushee. Faith is built on experiences, culture, and our own inner voice. Your friends story is tragic, and that doesn't make me doubt her ability to birth, but it does sound like she needed help to get it started. How would you know that? I would trust my midwife to help and guide me (and my midwife says 42 weeks is long enough for babies). So in that example needing some help doesn't undermine faith in a womans body, because there are so many unknown factors which make labour start.

Both my births were unusual. Dd was PROM and decreased fetal movt, but I went for monitoring and ignored the pressure to induce (well I compromised and booked in for an induction within 48 hours of membrane rupture which is recommended by everyone...the midwife at the hospital wanted me induced within 10 hours of rupture which is unnecessary). I went home with my midwife and under her advice got labour started using nipple stimulation and lots of loving.

Ds I contracted for a week and was emotionally exhausted but I knew a hospital would induce me. It turns out he was very entangled in the cord and the stop start labour was keeping him safe (he could only cope with short contractions). An induction would have lead to fetal distress and emergency csection because he was wound up so tightly. Then once my waters broke he kicked his way out so fast, because he needed to be born. It was the ultimate test of faith for me, but one that won me over. My birth story had all the details (my midwife missed the birth because the labour was so unusual).
I trusted everything was ok, because he was moving lots and I suppose why wouldn't it be? I just knew he we ok, and I thought I could do it. It's a tough thing to try and explain.