I am not sure what kind of pain relief to have with the birth of my first child. I am 20 weeks now and starting to plan this sort of stuff. Trouble is I have no idea what level of pain or kind of pain to expect. I mean, I know thousands of women do it every year in huts in africa with aids and no pain relief but I dont think Im that brave. Has anybody had both methods with different children? I was wondering which is best - including after the birth for the best recovery.
I've been told that an epidural can slow the labour down as well as you cant feel anything. Is this true?

I've only dealt with the epidural and let me tell you, I wanted to marry the doctor that gave it to me, haha. The shot itself was not too bad. I had a problem with pushing because I really had no idea when I was having a contraction, needless to say, the epidural took away all of the pain. I was unable to walk for the next few hours because I was numb but that was no big deal. I will say that your back will ache for quite a while when you get home and I had some pretty bad headaches. It was worth it to me though because the pain of the contractions was so intense when they were 2 mins apart. Good luck with everything

Start with nothing. Build slowly. As the pain increases, you may or may not need additional relief. Walking in having already decided on an epidural, or decided you WILL NOT have one can mess with your decision making. Be open, understand your choices, and make the best decision based on the experience you are having. I was open to an epidural, but went without it, only using some narcotics. (fentanol???) But then at 9.5 cm I got stuck, and the dr. said epidural would help me relax and finish labor. Being educated and open is the best choice, and I'm sure your dr will agree. Now rock it out.

I have 2 children. I tried to go natural with my daughter. I didn't have pain relief for 12 hours. I couldn't take the pain after that. I received an epidural. I opted for the epidural in my second birth before the real pain kicked in.

I also worked in Maternity for two years. I have seen women who are in labor with absolutly no pain and others that almost break their hubbies hand. It all depends on your situation and your pain tolerance.

For example, if you have to have an emergency c-section having the epidural in can help the process go much faster. I have also seen where women progress faster after they have an epidural, because they are more relaxed. ( that was my case too).

So it all depends on you. If you can tolerate the pain more power to you. If you can't that's ok too. As long as the baby is born healthy and you are too it doesn't matter what happens in the labor. I hope that helps out.