Sorry to double-post but to give an example:

If I hadn't read about natural pain relief methods, I would have begged for an epidural at about 3cm I reckon. As it was I refused an epidural when it was offered and kept going till I was 7cm. By this time I had been in labour for three days and had had 7 hours sleep in total in those three days and my DD was posterior! If I'd had a support person, I reckon they could have motivated me to keep going or at least gone for gas first instead of straight to the epidural. So what I'm saying is that pain is just one part of the overall jigsaw puzzle and it's how you put those pieces together that will determine the overall result. I should also say that your ob's attitude will also come into play especially if you go private. The midwives told me that had I been under a different obs' care, he would have whisked me off for a caesar instead of just taking a wait and see approach as mine did.