Oh my gosh... that makes me SO happy that I'm pregnant now, and not 100 years ago.
But look at literally all medical practices/hospitals/medications/mental institutions/etc 100 years ago and you will be mortified!
I agree with you completely. People love to blame issues resulting from their own parenting or environment on anyone else! My little brother was born via epidural, and with forceps. You could easily blame his apparent "ADHD" on that. My Stepmom blames anyone but herself... but the reality is, she is a horrible, inconsistent, verbally abusive & neglectful mother. My little brother acts like a perfectly normal, smart 10 year-old when she isn't around, but has always had outbursts around her, even as an infant. It must be the epidural! All of my sisters & I were born via epidural and we're all very healthy mentally and physically.
I think that article is just a little bit ridiculous suggesting that in the "future" we're going to find out how horrible epidurals are. They have been used in millions & millions of births for the past 40+ years, don't you think that in this day and age of lawsuits, precautions and testing, they would've figured out whether it was harmful or not? It is absolutely awful what women had to go through in the early 1900's with testing and new drugs, but that is not where we are right now, we're in an amazing scientific age.
My friend used that argument, when she was admonishing me for wanting to give birth in a "filthy hospital" and considering getting an epidural. It's not like this is a new craze - generations of people have been born with the help of epidurals.