Positive                                  Negative

Availability of latest technology to assist in the birth process	"Active Management of Labor" rather than respect for the natural birth process.  The birth process is regulated from start to finish using the latest technology
Availability of a variety of anesthesia	Higher rate of electronic fetal monitoring is associated with higher rate of forceps delivery, episiotomy, and ceasarean section
8 Availability of trained medical personnel 8	Doctor and hospital assume responsibility for safe birth
Availability of insurance coverage	Restriction of freedom to have food and drink, move into comfortable positions, and be in control of your birth experience
Hospital takes care of birth certificate	Hospital environment generally produces more anxiety which interferes with labor
8	Many hospitals do not allow midwives to attend births, so choice of caregiver is limited to doctors
8	Without insurance coverage, doctor and hospital fees are very expensive
8	Medical professionals rarely trust the mother's own evaluation of her condition and rely totally on technology to help make decisions
8	Environment is sterile, cold, uninviting
88	Continuity of the birth experience is interrupted when the mother must move to the delivery room
8	Spirituality of the birth experience is not a priority
8	Medical professionals are trained in how to identify and treat abnormalities, not how to recognize and facilitate normal birth, few have been trained to sit back, observe, and do nothing
8	Many tests and procedures are performed to avoid malpractice, not because you really need them
8	Some hospitals will not allow children to be present during birth
8	Mother and baby are often separated after birth for a period of 2 to 12 hours
8	Hospitals contain many kinds of dangerous germs not present in a home environment
8	Sugar water or formula is often given to infants in the newborn nursery even if parents request that baby be breastfed only
8	Newborn nurseries are rarely able to provide the constant skin-to-skin contact infants need to receive from their mothers