I have had four children 3 with an epidural and 1 via natural childbirth. It depends on the birth...if your wife needs pitocin in order to dilate then go with an epidural becuase the pain is awful, intolerable. If no IV's, monitors etc are use, your wife should be able to walk around and then no drugs are needed (at least I didn't need them). Keep in mind that your wife needs to decide whether she wants pain medication. I will remind you of something a very wise woman told me...the goal of any birth is a healthy baby. In the end, you won't care how this happened. I would not advise a mid-wife. If you are in the hospital and have access to a doctor then maybe (strong reservations), but under no other other circumstances in my opinion. I have known of several women who opted for home birth and their babies died. Also, my daughter was in labor for 20 hours and ended up with a c-section. She had a mid-wife who should have known this girl was too small to deliver a 9 lbs baby (tiny girl). My son-in-law called me and reported my daughter had a fever (infection setting in too many hours since water broke) about 18.5 hours into labor. The mid-wife said this was not 'uncommon'(stupid woman). I told him 'call the Doctor now'. Ds did and 1/2 hour later, my daughter was in the operating room. She had a nasty infection and remained in the hospital several extra days. I don't trust mid-wives, they often have a political agenda and can be quite militant. I used lamaze and really found it useful. I did not like the Bradley method; it did not work for me. Few women can truly relax during labor. Focal points on the other hand (lamaze) can be very useful.
She had the baby squatted on her knees. After the baby was born, she complained of pain in her back and the midwife took a look and saw two little feet hanging out.
My friend said the baby was out within two minutes.
She said she wished she had had her first four children that way and credited the fact that she gave birth on her knees was why she needed no caesearan and said she felt that if she had been in a hospital, there would have been a caesearean.
She went on to have three more babies born at home.
Now, for my advice: Many years ago, someone told us about Adele Davis. I bought her book Let's Have Healthy Children, I gave the book to my daughter who was pregnant with her third child. Adele Davis told of the need for pregnant women to have plenty of zinc, Vit C, Vit E, calcium and folic acid. There may have been other nutrients, I don't remember.
Anyway, when my daugher went into labor she took some extras of these nutrients. Our grandson was born on the bed in the labor room (never made it to the delivery room) and she described a shiver coming over her body and the baby slid out.
My granddaughter just had a baby and as I was researching in the Internet, I found another woman describing the same experience. They claimed it was not really painful.
Some consider Adele Davis to be a quack but many of the things she advocated years ago, worked, including curing my rheumatoid arthritis and my husband's hemorrhoids.