FM, any woman giving birth in Australia can access an epidural if she wants one, and for the most part, within a reasonable period of time (and any undue delay is considered a failure of care). That's as it should be. A woman giving birth at home, who eventually decides, 'stuff this, I want an epidural', can transfer to hospital, and access one.

...
Women don't need to fight for an epidural. It's on offer. Check out the peri-natal stats and see how many women who give birth in hospital end up having one.

...

% of women in Australia who have an epidural: 28%

% of who have a homebirth: 1.7%

% who have use of a birth pool in labour: 3%

... Have you ever experienced difficulty on obtaining an epidural in the Australian hospital system?
Thank you for giving real content to your reply JulieDoula, as that, unlike just opinions and rants actually adds to the discussion.

To respond briefly:

1. Totally disagree that anyone can have an epi, even less within a reasonable time. I have 10 (just counted them off) friends who between them have had 34 children and none of them got an epi when they asked, or anything near it. Many asked for it as soon as they arrived in labour and were yelled at, ranted at, pressured and generally stonewalled for hours. Some occasions they missed out as they got to transition first. Also, there's a shortage of anesthetists in many Australian obstetric wards so c-sections obviously get and deserve priority and people are missing out on requested epidurals. Then there are those who are conditioned to "hang on" as long as they can, then end up getting one on request. Many of those feel they shouldn't have been pressured to hold on but should have had it sooner. I also have 1 friend who is a midwife in a public hospital and who reports to me that for public patients midwives are encouraged to discourage epidurals as a cost-saving measure. Which, frankly, IS a failure of care as you rightly point out. So "ending up" with an epi isn't the only thing that matters, but getting one promptly on request and being fully informed that it is not adverse to have one sooner and you don't have to "hang on" unless you really actually want that. It is a common misconception capitalised on by public hospitals imho.

2. As for the figures - those are not numbers that interest me. And that brings me nicely to my "agenda" though I'd say its more my passionate commitment to full scientific information and choice. I wouldn't matter to me if 100% of births were homebirths (I'm hardly against them if that's what people want with no indoctrination), or if 100% were epidural users, or if 100% were c-sections even. What matters to me is how many were DENIED the birth they wanted, either by not knowing enough, or by actual denial by the people supposed to care for them, or by active misinformation about the dangers/safety.

That goes for homebirths too. I wouldn't want a woman who was a good candidate for homebirth and really wanted one to not have one. But I suspect that happens less than being denied epidurals precisely because so many want epidurals - most, if not all - who ask for an epi get less than they ask for and are entitled to.

And yes, since that would be my choice (even if I didn't need one) I care about women being denied that especially. I know how wonderful they can be.

Thanks for your post anyway. I really think the rest of the thread has not engaged with the real issue and has engaged in mere ad hominem attacks. I respect your different opinion on what an ideal birth is, but I don't think we actually want anything much different for women. I'm just *more* concerned with the denial of epidurals which I'm entitled to be. That doesn't mean I want women to be denied homebirths. They're not incompatible.