Others, however, are furious their wishes were ignored. 'I talk to women who have been left screaming in agony because they were either not offered or were refused pain relief,' Treadwell says.
'Afterwards, they've needed psychological help, their relationships have been scarred, they've been afraid of getting pregnant again, they don't bond with their babies.' Figures compiled recently by The Sunday Telegraph showed epidural rates vary hugely between hospitals; medical experts said the low use of epidurals at dozens of hospitals was 'extremely disturbing'.
Fashions in giving birth are as variable as hemlines. Tina Cassidy, the author of Birth: A History, asserts, 'The way we choose to give birth reflects the culture of the age.
Whenever women feel their choices are being limited by political decisions, they push back and say, "We can do what we darn well want."'
Daily Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/main.jhtmlxml=/education/2008/05/25/st_birthplan25.xml&page=2
