Hi,
I've experienced birth with and without epidural.
With epidural, the nurse can control the amt of anaesthetic that goes into your body to numb the pain. So if you cannot take the pain, then ask the nurse to increase the amt of anaesthetic released into your body. The side effect is you will not be able to feel the baby coming and will not know when to push....so must listen to the que of the nurses n doctor. Also, for some ppl, they will vomit and shiver. For me, I shivered until I could hear my teeth clattering, but I din vomit. I also feel that my bb is more sleepy the next 1-2 days after birth, so nursing had some problems.
Without epidural, contraction pain is v bad. At the most intense period, I could almost feel that my insides were splitting open and I was screaming away, cursing everyone. I wouldn't hv done this if not that I reached the hospital late and we din hv enough time to do the epidural [IMG=http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/clipart/sad.gif]. The good thing was my bb was quite alert after birth n latched on well.
I'm also someone who is v afraid of injections....even drawing blood makes me sweat....but for no pain birth with epidural, I will bear the needle [IMG=http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/clipart/happy.gif].