We have a dear friend who is a L&D nurse at a local hospital with a large, very popular birth center (called "the birthplace"). They just built a brand new facility that includes ... wait for it ... full size (ie: "double") beds in every room because so few women were willing to birth in the "on your back and put your feet here" position any longer.

Slowly, slowly the culture is able to drag the process of giving birth back to a more sensible state of affairs. Slowly.

PS: A number of friends have pointed me towards a film called The Business of Being Born in recent weeks. I haven't watched it yet, but if you have a chance I suspect you should.