I work at two hospitals. One has anesthesiologists. There is a very high epidural rate. Most mothers have epidurals by the time they are in active labor and many before they are in active labor--for labor induction with pitocin, or in early labor. Fentanyl is the primary analgesic used in the epidural. At the other hospital, epidurals are much less frequent, are given later, and are given by nurse anesthetists. Many of them use sufenta instead of fentanyl. I find far fewer serious problems at the second hospital. The problems are primarily related to misinformation and mismanagement. At the first (highly interventive) hospital, I see many more babies who just don't seem to have a clue how to suck or who are in an inappropriate state for feeding. I don't have hard statistical data, but this is my impression. Bonnie Jones, RN, ICCE, IBCLC from the sunny S.W. USA