Puppies, sadly this is only going to get worse. And TBH, I can't for the life of me explain it. Most women use pain relief in labour due to fear of not being able to cope, and why do you think they have that fear? Because they have heard horror stories and a barrage of people saying "oh, you'll need pain relief". It is ludicrous. We were designed to give birth, we can do it and people should stop scaring us and let us get on with it. And the people who should know better are the ones doing this.

FWIW, I had a vaginal delivery with just gas (and I probably could have done without that even) and found it to be an amazing experience. Sure, there is pain, but with good preparation (get your hands on New Active Birth as a starting point), you can find a beneficial position and cope just fine. And believe me, it is well worth it, you feel so empowered and elated afterwards, and recover so much quicker than if you resort to an epidural (like I did first time due to lack of knowledge).

Anyway, I digress. My point is that not all births are horror stories at all. It can be an amazing experience and one you will treasure for your whole life. Don't listen to anyone who says anything negative about child birth. Read up on all the fantasic stories you can (there are some great ones here on BB), read up on active birth and go have a fantastic birthing experience.