This is merely anecdotal, but I have heard several women say that they weren't dilating properly and getting prepped for a c - section,
including getting an epidural, and the epidural allowed them to relax and dilate and then be able to give birth naturally.
Not exact matches
Although I did not have an
epidural with either my daughter's hospital birth or my son's home birth, there was a point during my induced labor with my daughter that an option like this would have appealed to me (had I not had complications
including low platelets that prevented me from
getting an
epidural anyway).
Some reasons for the drop may
include time and scheduling to
get to classes and higher
epidural and cesarean rates.