It wasn't intended, the labor was just so fast that there wasn't time to get one in. (We were at the hospital less than an hour after her water broke and the baby arrived less than 15 minutes after we arrived at the hospital.) As far as I'm concerned an epidural is always needed. Why should a woman go through that kind of pain if she doesn't have to?

You might be surprised what kind of meds are given to newborns with various health problems. My niece had open heart surgery shortly after birth. She was pretty drugged up with no discernable long-term impact. I actually consider the bit of the epidural that gets into the baby as a positive. Without it the trip through the birth canal must be horrible. With it he must just be groovin' his way down.

To be fair, my wife is contemplating a natural birth (no epidural, still in the hospital) for the baby we're expecting now. She said her recovery was easier and she liked being more with it after the delivery. I counsel her against it because I'm not sure she really remembers what she went through. I think I'm still suffering from PTSD from the last time. She was in serious shock for the delivery and wasn't with it at all for some time.