"Most women also approach birth having already decided to have an epidural, so they feel they have little use for breathing exercises, relaxation techniques, and other natural coping strategies they associate with childbirth classes."

This one always surprises me. Because a responsible health practitioner won't OK the administration of an epidural until a woman has reached about 4cm (because any earlier than that an there is a huge statistical correlation between epidurals and labour dystocia leading to delivery problems) meaning she has a good six hours or so at home and hospital to deal with before she can get pain relief medicine. How will a woman know how to deal with that?

And, if a woman doesn't know the normal course of labour such as what happens in each phase, how long they normally take, what is happening with the baby in each phase, etc, how will a woman know when things start to deviate from the norm?

I'm continually blown away when otherwise smart women have a lot of major misconceptions about labour and delivery, such as not realising that labour doesn't start with the breaking of the waters and immediate soul crushing pain. In fact, I recently spoke with an orthopedic surgeon who thought that was exactly how labour began!  

It's a weird phenomena that so many women aren't interested in being better prepared for such a big event, regardless of how "natural" or interventive they want it to be.

I wanted to take a class when I had my second child because it had been almost 13 years since I had given birth to my first child and I only remembered one breathing technique.  We didn't take a class.  I read a lot.  But I believe first time moms and dads should try to take a class.  Knowledge is power.

I did not take a class but not for any of the reasons listed above. Quite frankly, I felt very prepared. I was one of the last of many of my friends to give birth and I had attended the birth of one of my friend's kids. I had a doula, my sister and two friends that were moms as well as my husband attending the birth. I read a little of the Bradley book, but honestly, felt quite instinctive about the birthing process. I knew the phases, the approx. length of time for each stage, the list of possible complications and so on. That being said, I had 50 hours of labor! Most people do a double take, but most of it was bearable. It was the final 8 hours that were the hardest, most of which I honestly have no recollection. I left my body and do not remember although everyone there says I worked very hard. It took less than 40 minutes of pushing and he was out. It was all natural.

I was planning on an epidural (and had one), but I knew that things don't always go as planned. I wanted to have some idea what to expect so I wouldn't be too freaked out if I couldn't have the epi for some reason.

I didn't take a class with my first, and I probably won't with my second, but I still feel very prepared.  The internet is an amazing tool.  With the click of a few keys you can search for all sorts of things - technical information, personal stories, expert opinions from all over, even videos.  I'm just not a person that learns well from being in a lecture and/or group activity setting.  I'd just rather figure it out on my own.