Both my sister & I were born under the care of a midwife; it puts me in an odd position to advocate for the option, being the younger of us & therefore fairly uninvolved in both events. Nevertheless, my understanding of the situation is that my mother received both prenatal and birth counseling/help from her
midwife; when she went into labor, she was primarily under the care of the midwife, but a doctor at the nearby (across the street?) hospital had been assigned to her.
It is my opinion that midwife-assisted births are perfectly doable; America is one of the few places in which the norm is to give birth in a hospital. It's probably not a decision to make late in the game, and as in all things a healthy amount of skepticism helps. Do some research.