Through four labours, the epidural has been, in some form, part of my experience. It shouldn t be a significant element of labour, really. It s pain relief.
Real women go without.
Having an epidural was like being whisked to the top by the rescue helicopter without even getting a blister on your heel. During my first labour, I firmly believed this. I was to be talked out of it. Unfortunately, my husband and my labour support person took this seriously, and managed to talk me out of one for a good 24 hours of unproductive but painful labour. I begged, I pleaded and I got laughing gas, a misnomer if ever there was one.