Giving birth is for a women one of the most remarkable events in her life. A good, bad or mediocre experience at the birth of a her child will frame the way she bonds with and interacts with that child for the rest of their lives. God has given us all we need to form a strong perfect attachment to our new born child, but if we aren't holding that baby, skin to skin, right after it is born we are missing out on God's natural provision for us. In nature when mammals give birth the mom immediately starts to lick the baby. This is her way of identifying with the newborn. If the mom doesn't lick the baby right away, she will forget that it is hers and there will be problems. Humans though very different from other mammals, need to connect with that newborn as soon as it is born so that that baby is imprinted in her brain and heart.
The hormones given off just after birth by holding your baby right away will help you heal, and it will also draw you close to your child. If dad is in that circle he will benefit from the same hormone rush.
If you are pregnant learn all you can about labor and delivery before you actually go into labor. If you go to the hospital as a patient, they will treat you like a patient. You will get as many interventions as they can give you. Labor can be painful, but like all other things in life God has made a provision for us. We produce the necessary hormones to survive the event and in all cases we come out on the other side changed in ways to profound to describe.
Make a birth plan. A birth plan is just a written outline of how you expect your labor and delivery to go. Watch you-tube videos of child birth, take child birth classes and consider having a doula present to help both you and dad make this the most incredible and positively memorable experience of your life.
