Mary:

Money,  money, money!  The anesthesiologists lose money, the pharmacy loses
money, the hospital needs more nursing staff to "coach" and support the moms
in labor....the way things are now, the nurse can sit at the desk, watch the
telemetry unit, give the mom her epi, mom & dad can play cards,  and everyone
is happy.  Also, the units are quieter -- no one grunting & groaning as they
give birth.  Looks very serene.  Docs don't have to spend as much time
because they can vacuum the baby out quicker.

With natural childbirth, everyone loses but the mother and the baby.  And who
cares about them?  The bottom line is money -- do it faster, and get them out
sooner.

Now lets talk about the mom I had that quit bf because the headache caused by
her epidural was so severe she couldn't even think about putting the baby to
breast.

Jan B. (who is old enough to remember all of the 70's stuff, and helped
develop a really truly out of hospital birthing center for all those radical
ladies!)