I became pregnant in 1997, it was right after my sister had my nephew.  She encouraged me to have a natural birth, that it was something I had to experience.  So taking her advice, I sought out a midwife and took some classes on breathing techniques, took a tour of the birthing center and thought I was all set to have a natural birth.  Boy, was I in for a surprise!  I had gone 10 days over my due date and convinced my midwife that we needed to induce.  So we did...  Contractions started off somewhat slow, and as they started to get stronger I had horrible back pain, later to find out I was having "back labor".  I was NOT enjoying this experience of labor at all!  I did not have the support or the knowledge of how to handle the pain, so I started to fear it.  Tensing up with each contraction, making the pain worse because my body was fighting back.  I was scared, in pain, and felt very alone.  My husband had no idea on how to comfort me, which left him feeling very helpless.  The cycle continued for many hours.  In the last hours of laboring, I could not take it any longer.  They decided to give me Morphine to help with the pain, which only made me pass out in between the contractions and wake up at the peak, and I continued that way for awhile.  In the end I delivered a healthy, beautiful 8lb. baby boy.  I believe that my experience could have been COMPLETELY different if I had the encouragement, support, and coaching from someone who was experienced.  I had no idea that there were ways to move the baby off of your back if you are experiencing back labor.  
When I look back at my birth experience, it was scary, dark and lonely.  This is something I would never want to happen to another birthing woman. The presence of a doula could have changed all of that, if I would have only of known there was such a person available.
I became pregnant in 1998, when my son was just 6 months old.  My birth experience was still VERY fresh in my mind and I knew I was NOT going to try that again.  I "planned" my birth this time...  I would induce if I went a day over my due date, get my epidural right away, and wait for my beautiful baby girl to arrive.  That is just what I did.  This labor was pain free, yet it lacked any birth experience.  I had the complete "medical birth".  Again, I wish I would have educated myself of options, and how to have a beautiful birthing experience.  
Both of my experiences have made me the person I am today.  I have found the importance of labor support through my experiences.  I am not here to tell you that natural birth is an easy task, but I will tell you that it is the most rewarding, empowering, self fulfilling experience a woman can experience.  I believe with the right support, education, and coaching that you CAN have a Beautiful natural birthing experience.  
Don't worry, if that scares you to think about that, I will also help you have a Beautiful birthing experience with the help of medication, I will just help you get into active labor, so your labor is shorter and a rewarding experience.