Laboring at home allows the labor process to proceed uninterrupted, but only because the hospital, with bossy uniformed staff with their fluorescent lighting naturally stop the labor process, but that pesky umbilical cord does get in the way all too often, so one would never be well advised to labor at home. Csections, inductions and all of the trappings ARE better than the alternative, of course.
Natural birth IN the hospital is ideal. Problem is the staff takes over instead of realizing their actual role - support in case of emergency. Babies really have been arriving naturally for millennia.
The Germans manage to do natural childbirth in the hospital and it seems to work.
It is actually the staff who need to make the hospital environment more like home; they are the ones who are well advised to not ony alter the environment, but to inform the mom about the process. They don’t want to do this, as they need to justify financially all of their staff and equipment- the system is addicted to it- equipment and pharmaceuticals.
Oh, well. I guess I need to write about it.
You describe my third birth precisely. In the hospital, but with a midwife. It was a very easy birth, but the other two had blazed the trail, as it were! (After baby #1, I did learn to stay at home as long as humanly possible, which was way more comfortable.)