women's groups

I went to a women's natural labor support group last night. I went because I need to make a decision on whether to hire a doula to help me during labor. I met with one two weeks ago. My spouse liked her but I had some reservations the biggest of which is that you just never know who you are going to end up with when the time comes. The woman I met with has a partner. If the person you choose can't make it, you get someone else. I haven't met this someone else and I would like to before I fork over some hundreds of dollars to pay someone who is supposed to provide me comfort and advice in a difficult time. These doulas run this women's group, so I went. It was supposed to last an hour from 6-7. At 7:30 I was getting a headache from lack of food. At 8, I was the first one to up and leave. The first hour was spent with introductions and women telling their birth stories. There was the obligitory "oh, it was such a beautiful experience" story. The woman I most appreciated was a mom who had her 13 day old daughter with her. This woman has had 7 kids, all but the first were natural. From her I got the most important piece of information -- if you have an epidural, you have to stay in the hospital for a day because you won't be able to walk for 12 hours. See, you are just supposed to know this. My spouse is a good guy. He's a scientist and not about unnecessary pain. He more than anyone has been in favor of the pain killers. You know, a "why suffer" kind of attitude. It looks like the answer to that is because that 1 little injection means a mandatory hospital stay. It's the best argument I've heard so far for sucking it up and just dealing with the pain. I hate hospitals.