"failure to progress" linked to epidurals

from DONA's eNewsletter...a link to a study that concludes the following, as summarized by DONA, with emphasis by me:

A prospective study of nearly 3,000 women having their first babies showed a strong association between certain characteristics present upon admission and the diagnosis of dystocia (or failure to progress) in labor, with resultant cesareans. These characteristics are: a tense cervix that is dilated less than 4 cm with a thick lower segment and a fetal head that is high with poor head-to-cervix contact. Epidural analgesia also had the strongest association with dystocia among the risk indicators assessed.