If your doctor is not a qualified anaesthetist or anaesthesiologist - you have a right to request for one to be present. Epidurals in Obstetric pain relief is a proven technique. It is relatively safe and definitely effective as compared to other techniques. In this present day and age there is no need for any woman undergoing labour to be exposed to the torture of labour pains. You have a right to insist on the appropriate pain relief.
Most qualified obstetricians are able to manage the labour in a patient undergoing a epidural block.
The epidurals are given by a trained anesthesiologist in Kandang Kerbau Hospital. It involves the introduction of a catheter which is a very thin plastic tubing into a space just outside meninges of the spinal cord. This involves a lot of skill. Thereafter the anaesthesiologist will administer local anaesthetic together with a narcotic agent to afford you relief from the painful contractions. If you are proceeding to a cesarean section during the course of the labour, you may opt to go through the operation with the epidural anaesthesia.