Marie Davis, now I've heard everything! And Margery: the anesthesiologists are coming from... THE BANK. Why else would they be so eager to sell their wares? Epidurals, the "community standard?" HA! If they were standard, all women would have little holes in their back ready for the tube delivering the drug. Maybe that wouldn't be bad for when we sit on hard seats for hours in classrooms, offices, etc. Wonder how we'd keep the water out when swimming? If epidurals are "standard" now, we could likewise say that "twilight sleep" (morphine plus scopalomine -a hallucinogen) was standard, saddleblocks-with-forceps was standard, and "knock em out" was standard too. The actual "standard" around the world is an unmedicated home birth with a traditional birth attendant. Hiding the risks happens here, too - at the military base hospital the anesthesiology residents ply their trade in the maternity clinic waiting room. Only this time, they're trying to line up teaching materials - er, I mean "patients" - so they can meet their monthly quota of pregnant women to anesthetize, and move on to something more exciting. I know they need to learn, blah blah blah. Surely there's another way. I better stop before I get carried away but not without one final word: BALDERDASH! (Hmm, maybe dads should have the epidural as "standard" to prevent the intense sensations experienced during the activities surrounding conception?) Linda Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC with dictionary in hand to define "standard." Dayton OH where the daffodils are FINALLY blooming!