Most of all I think each woman needs to be comfortable with her own process so I try not to comment.
I had my babies at home with a midwife. I always knew that would be my choice however DH was in the Navy with our first pregnancy. The hospital had some pretty midevil mandatory practices that I could not agree with. Homebirth got us around that. My personal belief is that birth is a natural process that doctors have made a medical one. If a woman needs medical assistance then whatever she needs is okay but if a pregnancy is natural and normal then let it progress that way. I also had a high school friend who was permanently paralyzed from a botched epidural. After that I knew that I could never sit still and allow someone to stick a needle in my spine. Both babies were born at home, neither had needless drops put in their eyes, neither were ever away from DH or I, DH was the first human touch they felt at birth. DS slept through the night at 2 weeks old and DD slept through the nigh at 3 weeks. They were peaceful, happy babies.