I had a very similar experience last week, actually. My husband and I went to a hospital antenatal class and decided to leave half way through. The midwife running it was absolutely awful; disinterested, condescending and when I questioned her about mandatory CTG monitoring and internal examinations (she had stated that these two things had to happen when you were admitted, as though you had no choice in the matter!) she reacted aggressively, and ended her little rant with - 'well, you don't have to have either, but if something goes wrong... you wouldn't want your baby to DIE, would you? !!'! I couldn't believe that, in response to a question from a mother she was employed to EDUCATE on matters relating to birth and beyond, she attempted to guilt-trip me into silence when I questioned her assumption of protocol and procedure, using the life of my baby as leverage. That was low. Although I understand the need for intervention in the event of an emergency, why would you assume foetal distress upon admittance to hospital? Grrr!

Anyway, I think the best thing you can do is inform yourself as much as possible - read, talk to other women who have had positive birth experiences (it seems as though people are often more willing to share the horror stories rather than the lovely ones), and you might even consider independent antenatal classes that aren't hospital-affiliated. Luckily we had our Calmbirth classes and private childbirth education classes a month ago, and so I had already been feeling quite confident (and informed) before I attended the class. So, instead of being terrified, my husband and I left indignant - how dare she, etc! Personally, I feel hospital-run classes are more or less about passing on information about their policies and procedures (which can be useful information to have, so that you know where you stand). And don't let one bad experience convince you that you won't be able to birth your baby, or that you have no autonomy in relation to your birth - I don't know why people like to scaremonger, but ultimately your body is in charge of your labour, not anyone else. Just because you are made to watch a woman suffering and screaming through her labour experience as part of your 'education', it does not mean that this is the experience you will have. If you take a look at all the birth stories on the Belly Belly forum, you'll see how different (and not necessarily horrific) everyone's birth is!