My neighbour's entire family in Australia including cousins had never used epidural, most of them had quick labours. She thought she would be the same. Unfortunately she endured 36 hours of labour without dilating much. All this time the baby was doing fine, with no drop in heart rate. Finally dr advised her to take the epi to conserve her strength to push later. She finally delivered another 10 hours later after a good night's sleep.
I think most moms will want to try it without the epidural, especially first time moms. If labour is progressing well, and you are dilating well, and if baby is not undergoing stress, then its fine if you can endure the pain. However, if labour is not progressing and baby's heartrate is dipping, then please do not be so stubborn, the epi can really help to relax you.
I know of another friend in the UK who went through a 30+hr labour naturally. A week after baby was born, she started having seizures and they found out that baby had brain damage, probably from the difficult birth. We are quite lucky in Singapore because we are constantly being monitored in the hospitals, and the nurses will not hesitate to tell you when baby is facing any kind of stress. Its great to be pro natural, but do remember that the health of the baby is what is most important, not our vision of the 'ideal birth experience'.
Which hospital is charging $600?? This is without pre-admission package right? Mt.E is charging $300 for epi.
