My births were all very different, as I learned with each one what could and needed to be done different to make it better for both me and the baby. With my first, I realized that birth philosophy is very important to be on the same page with your care provider. I had a "take charge" midwife who wanted to manage every aspect of the birth and thought that I needed to be quiet and mellow through the pain. Ugh! My next midwife was better as she was very respectful and stayed out of my way while I gave birth instinctively and spontaneously. Best yet was to not have a birth attendant fooling with me or watching me at all.
A few things I learned:
-perineal massage is not necessary and can make things worse because anyone's hands but a lover's "down there" are going to make the mother inhibited and tense up
-pushing in a reclining position is a bad idea because it cuts down oxygen flow to the baby and collapses the pelvis so that it's hard to push
-the cord ought not to be cut right away, it can lead to infant distress to do so
-pushing shouldn't start voluntarily at full dilation, that's a recipe for a long, hard second stage and vaginal trauma -- best to let the body begin spontaneously bearing down
-proper hormonal release for a normal birth won't happen if the mother is distracted, scared, irritated, being instructed, bright lights, strangers milling around and touching her, etc.
-rate of cervical dilation is *not* a reliable predictor of normality of the birth
-the doctor or midwife should not be manipulating and pulling on the baby's head on emergence
-episiotomy does *not* protect the pelvic floor, it *injures* it. It's also almost never necessary, yet the obstetric rate is 50% of first-time moms. Trust me, you don't want your genitals cut. But doctors like to do it, despite it not being at all evidence-based.
Oh, there are so many other things. I suggest you start doing some serious research, it could very well make all the difference between trauma and well-being.