Oh and something else I just thought of

Sometimes I have clients who are agonising over this same issue and wondering who to have with them - my advice is to ask themselves if they would be OK with this person walking in on them having sex.

If the answer is no, then don't bring them into the birth space.

Who ever is in the birth with you is going to see you in a very vulnerable position, making lots of noise, probably naked, with fluids leaking, and the state of your vagina and cervix being a frequent topic of public discussion and speculation. (It sounds crass but unfortunately that's the reality of hospital birth). You have to be comfortable with that and their feelings don't really come into it