Hi.
I was told that you need to know whether you plan to have an epidural before you go to hospital, as they usually wont give one to you, unless you have discussed the chances with your midwife beforehand.
I'm not too sure about that but it is definitely a good idea to investigate it thoroughly before labour - as briggsy's girl said it's not something you want to be discussing at the height of labour.

With my first I went in hoping I wouldn't need it but ok with it if I had to ...and after a few hours I did. It worked beautifully, I even got to sleep a bit! BUT... it did restrict me to the bed, and possibly did slow the labour, I know by the end they were concerned that things weren't progressing as they should. Overall though, it did what it was supposed to and i had no nasty side effects.

With DS1 however I went in with the same attitude - if I need it fine , but I'll try & get through without it - and I managed without it. TBH I would much rather labour without an epidural...it allowed me a much more active birth, I used the shower for pain relief which was fantastic! and my overall feeling about things was ...better. It was only a three hour labour too which helped.

Although DS2 ended in CS, I laboured for 8-9 hrs with just gas before hand (and with my Mum in my ear going 'surely you want an epidural by now? ) - I think knowing that although it hurts, you do live thorugh it helps a LOT!

My advice to you is just to research it and keep an open mind.
You don't want to decide that you definitely aren't having one and then feel disappointed if you change your mind in labour...but also don't go in thinking that you WILL need one...you might do fine without it. Check out some of the other pain relief options which are less likely to result in intervention, and talk to your Ob about epidurals...when you make your choice know that it's the right one for you

Good luck!