My wife wanted to have a natural birth. But when her labour pains started, it took what felt like eternity for her dilation to move to just one cm. She was in so much pain that she said screw it and asked to be admitted one day earlier so that she could benefit from the epidural. She was apologetic about admitting herself into the hospital one day earlier than planned because that meant another day of hospitalisation expenses. Anyway, she was in so much pain that I think a natural birth was out of the question for her