It was imperative to allow nature to take its course and keep childbirth as normal as possible, a confernece for midwives and expectant mothers has been told.
Welsh consultant midwife Grace Thomas said there should not be any medical interventions unless they were absolutely necessary.
Interventions, she said, were like a line of dominos - when one fell, it brought all the others tumbling down.
There have been concerns locally about a high rate of inductions for childbirth when compared to the European average.
"If you induce labour, which is very common in Malta and happens in one-third of births, it leads to further interventions. Normally the mothers will need to have their water broken, a drip in the arm and oxytocin to help labour progress. This means that they will need to be monitored to ensure that the baby is ok, which will in turn mean that they have to lie in bed," Ms Thomas said.
"Some women do need interventions and it is very important that they are available. But it is imperative to minimise interventions so that women have the chance to give birth normally," she said, adding that although birth was a normal process, Western countries had made it very medicalised, a concern that has long been raised by local midwives.
Sina Bugeja, the chief executive of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, stressed that women had the right to information which could allow them to make an informed choice. They should also be able to have an active participation in decision-taking during labour.
Health Parliamentary Secretary Joe Cassar, who opened the conference, said there was nothing better than natural birth, even because women tended to recover quicker.
Earlier, conference participants said women want familiar faces around them at childbirth.
A first-time mother who is expected to give birth in three weeks' time said that although she went to her gynaecologist throughout pregnancy, she had no guarantee that the doctor would be there when she went into labour.
"I would have paid double to have the person who followed me throughout pregnancy be with me when I am giving birth," she said.
Another expectant mother, Maria Mifsud, who is seven months pregnant with her first child, also highlighted the importance of forging a relationship with the person who would be helping her during labour.
"I would love to have someone following me throughout pregnancy and who would come with me in the delivery room," she said, adding that there was not enough one-to-one contact with midwives.
According to midwife Ċensina Deschrijver, mothers felt much more comfortable when somebody they had met before was with them when they gave birth. She has seen the difference even when she had spoken to the expectant mother just once beforehand.
Ms Deschrijver said women who gave birth at home were more cooperative, highlighting the importance that mothers-to-be were made as comfortable as possible during labour.
"When they are calm, their body releases more endorphins and they can tackle contractions better," she said.
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