More supportive midwives mean no more epidurals

Abstract

If you read all the research on what lowers epidural rates you could be forgiven for concluding the obvious: if you want to reduce epidural rates, birth where there is no epidural service, because the studies of home birth and birth centres show these women have far fewer epidurals than a comparative group who birth in consultant units (Walsh, 2007). Of course they have some, because a small number are transferred to hospital for complications of labour.