Normal Birth

I recently started doula training.

This is something I've been considering for over a month and after discussing it with my husband and doing some research, I decided it is something I want to do. My training is being done through Childbirth International. Many of the doula education courses out there are done in 1 weekend training. I wanted something more comprehensive and after doing a lot of research, I decided that Childbirth International offered the best training.

One of my recent assignments was to read a publication from the World Health Organization on "Normal Birth."
You can find it here:
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/1996/WHO_FRH_MSM_96.24.pdf

I'm already discovering that normal birth is very hard to define. I haven't completed reading the publication but I've found it to be very informative and interesting. On page 11 of the publication, it says that "Midwives are the most appropriate health care provider to be assigned to the care of normal birth." It also says that

"...the midwife appears to be the most appropriate and cost effective type of health care provider to be assigned to the care of normal pregnancy and normal birth, including risk assessment and the recognition of complications."

Update: Okay I finished reading the entire publication and it was so great! I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it.