Epidural or not?

I've been thinking a lot about how I want to experience the birth of our child.  I know it's early, but I want to be as prepared as possible before we start taking birthing classes.  Actually, this is something that Daniel and I have been discussing for years.  We have always said that we wanted to go as natural as possible- even considering a home birth.  Unfortunately, a home birth is not possible with my health insurance.  But I think we can accomplish many of our goals in a hospital.  I've always wanted a natural childbirth because "natural" is how I try to do everything in my life.  It's sort of my guideline for how I live my life.  We try to eat as naturally as possible.  To me, that means avoiding foods that come in plastic or cardboard and foods that have chemicals in them that I can't pronounce.  We also avoid foods that don't rot or decompose.  And it also means doing things like growing our own vegetables and composting.  I think this philosophy comes from my scientific background.  I believe in evolution; I believe that our bodies have evolved to best survive in the world around us.  Evolution is a (relatively) slow process.  Our bodies have not evolved enough yet to digest all the chemicals and preservatives in our food.  They also haven't evolved to protect us from the obesity and heart disease that results from having food available anytime, anywhere.  Right now our bodies are perfectly suited to the way humans lived for thousands of years, until the industrial revolution.  And for thousands of years women gave birth to their babies with no medical intervention.  So why can't I?  Here's a good reason: for thousands of years women and babies died in childbirth.  It used to be one of the most common causes of death in fact.  Of course I will be in a hospital where medical intervention will be available if needed- I think that I would just rather wait until it's needed rather than using it proactively.

But, when it comes down to it, I need some ammunition.  I need data, numbers, and facts to arm myself with so that when I'm in severe pain I have a reason to keep going synthetic drug-free.  But I'm afraid to open myself to the other side.  If I give myself even one good reason to use drugs, my resolve may crack and that's the end of it.  I don't think I'm strong enough to stick with it to the bitter end.  Even if I was brave enough to research both sides of the issue, I wouldn't know where to look!  There is a serious lack of objective information about pregnancy, labor, childbirth, and parenting.  I think I might ask my Ob/Gyn if she has any resources.  Hopefully a doctor can be objective enough to help me make an educated decision.  And I have 6 more months to decide if I can handle it.