Drugs - my view on pain relief was purely and simply that I would not let anything pass through to the baby. I'd spent 9 months (plus pre-conception months) being careful what I ate and drank, coz of any 'risks' to the baby. Why would I suddenly pump DRUGS through to him right at the end? It was just a no-go for me.
This is my view too. In my ante-natal class on Saturday we covered pain relief then watched a video of a birth. After the video of the birth - which was a drug free birth - so many of them EVEN after hearing of the cons of the drugs like epi's and pethidene were saying how unrealistic it was because she had no drugs! Its like its never entered their minds NOT to have drugs - or at least start without the drugs.

It will be interesting to see how many of them do end up with drugs and/or intervention.