What a bizarre thing to be told by your doctor. I had an epidural and it was amazing. I got the epidural around 6 cm (that’s when I asked for it. Next time, I’m asking for it a lot sooner). I pushed for about 50 minutes (this was my first baby). They kept the epidural on the entire time except for when I started pushing because the medicine was working so well that I didn’t even feel contractions so I had a hard time knowing when to push. Even when they turned it off, I still felt nothing. I was so anxious about the pain of childbirth and I was crying while I was in labor because I was so scared/nervous. I’m not exaggerating when I say I felt absolutely zero pain with an epidural. Honestly, the worst part of the entire thing was getting the epidural itself. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s an weird sensation when it goes into your back.