Victoria's Secret Model on Having a Natural Birth: "I didn't want to drug my baby.".

As a parent, I am entrusted with making choices for my children. Research led me to the science-based conclusion that epidurals are safe and the effects are negligible.

I respect your decision. But here is something I couldn't deny when making choices for my baby: is it considered acceptable to drink alcohol or do drugs during pregnancy? Clearly not. Then all of the sudden when your going to give birth taking a medicine that is strong enough to numb the lower half of your ( practically 18 times bigger then your baby ) body or even just to cause you not to feel the pain, its affects to your baby are ' negligible '? That's all.

The amount of epidural anesthesia that may cross the placenta is negligible and the evidence does not support the theory that it causes ill effects in newborns. 

I can't speak for anyone else, but with none of my 3 epidural experiences was I "numb"; it merely took the edge off the pain and I was able to control the doseage with the push of a button. Considering I did the bulk of my labor naturally, I have good frame of reference. Perhaps older epidural techniques had stronger effects on muscle control, but newer techniques use less anesthesia, thus we cannot rely on outdated information when weighing our options.

Nevertheless, I don't consider alcohol consumption and recreational drug use to be on the same plane as epidural anesthesia. While I don't necessarily believe that the occasional drink is inherently harmful to the fetus, there is no established safety threshold. With epidural anesthesia, however, the body of evidence supports its safety, and it is being administered by a trained medical professional. 

She wound up having a baby boy. 10lbs, 22in. she dilated to 9 1/2 and stopped, so he was delivered by c-section. They're both doing great.