That suprises me, I haven't heard of any woman being denied one. Sorry you were treated this way at the hospital.
Thank you. It means a lot to me to have people who are anti-epidural say that. Really. I sincerely mean that. Mostly they just tell me I am better off.

BTW denial or delay is the more accurate term. I got one in the end, from Dr Grant and it was heavenly but only after 4 hours of total "wish I were dead" agony - NOT what I wanted on the day my child was born! - and finally begging. Then another hour of agony waiting for the IV to be properly adminsitered (do you see a pattern of incompetence here?) and then an hour for the IV to go in before I could have the epi.

When Dr Grant arrived he was blissfully unaware as he'd only been paged 5 mins before (told me 10 mins later as it kicked in and he waited for it to check it did). And yes, he is unashamedly my hero for taking that agony away. And for demystifying and reassuring me and others on the safety through his book. I was pretty chuffed to get him personally which was just chance.