Childbirth is an important experience in a woman's life. Women expect labor to be painful, and for nearly all women it is exceptionally, avery few women may not feel pain; others can control their response toreduce pain. The responsibility of doctors to provide pain control isarticulated in the Hippocratic Oath (”I will keep them from harm”) andsome, professional bodies craft ethical statements about pain relief, e.g.The American Medical Association (“physicians have an obligation to relievepain and suffering”). Of all techniques of pain relief in labor, epiduralanalgesia is the most effective method, however, it requires trained staffand there is considerable controversy regarding its influence on theprogress and outcome of labor.