I saw my wife before and after an Epidural so I could not dispute it's effectiveness.
But I generally can't see a reason why we need to spend 12 years in school to learn how various needles and rules of thumbs work.
Only the US has such an education burden, and only does the US have such a strong physician cartel to mandate it..
Edit, and even with midwives you will be hitting max out of pocket with 1 night stay.