"...I would also like to add a word about cost. I am not secretly rich. Actually I live in a very precarious situation. We are self-employed with variable and unreliable income and was staying with my parents for the birth, having lived in a caravan for two years. We are now in a tiny studio flat. Personally I would have been willing to pay double rather than risk feeling I had missed out on something important, or worse, had the whole experience ruined. Some people feel cheated, robbed, degraded, or neglected after their birthing experience, I felt valued and proud. Thank you Yorkshire Storks!"