Birth is often seen as a physical event of necessity – the unfortunate process needed to have the baby. The spirituality can be forgotten in the sterility of a clinical birth setting, with TVs on, monitors attached, caregivers only remotely available but generally busy and unknown. These images are what many women come to expect for birth. They do not expect to be celebrated nor are they encouraged, generally, to create individual ritual symbols or ceremony.
http://midwifeintheclouds.blogspot.com/2009/03/symbols-of-childbirth.html