Regardless of where they give birth, women living in non-metropolitan areas are less likely to have an epidural than their metropolitan counterparts.

CONCLUSION: Non-metropolitan women had fewer birth interventions, particularly epidural analgesia, than metropolitan women. Differences in maternal age and private health insurance do not fully explain the differences in epidural analgesia rates, suggesting care provided to labouring women may differ by area of residence. The difference in epidural analgesia rates may be due to lack of choice in maternity services, however it could also be due to differing expectations leading to differences in birth interventions for primiparous women living in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. PMID: 23276587 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Women Birth - Category: Midwifery Authors: Tags: Women Birth Source Type: research