Jan, I too have often wondered why so many women give up before
they start. I was totally grossed out to hear from a midwife
friend at my local hospital that young Bedouin women as well as
the Jewish women are demanding "something for pain" at 2 cm
dilation. And they are set up with the routine IV and given
demerol, nobody tries to talk anyone out of it, explain what it
could do for the baby. Wonderful. Israelis seem to think that a
"natural birth" means that the baby is delivered through the
vagina, period. A lot of education is needed out there. Judy
Knopf