I guess the thing to remember is that that the body is assisted by all sorts of hormones, etc for birthing, and ultimately it is just carrying out a natural function. There is nothing natural on the other hand about having a metal thingy poked up your Hoo Haa!

I just wanted to say I found the actual sensations of the contractions faaaaar more painful than any of the sensations involved in baby moving through and out of the birth canal (and I'd always had problems with Paps or any other sort of internal exams). It's designed to stretch when the time is right!

I think the hypnobirthing suggestion is a really good one!