Symbols and images of this kind cluster thickly
in the scenes of the «Christmas story» which
in Matthew and Luke is the prelude to their account of the public career of Jesus: visits of angels, prophetic dreams, the marvelous star
in the east, the miraculous
birth greeted with songs from the heavenly choir, all the appealing incidents so
familiar in the appropriate
setting of Christmas carol and nativity play.
This comes on top of the already - existing divide between the two views of childbirth, with midwives emphasizing the safety of natural
births in a
familiar, comfortable
setting, while the American Medical Association contends women are best off
in a hospital, where life - saving technology is nearby if something goes awry.