Pregnancy :: Natural Labour Or Epidural Shot - Pros And Cons?

I'm a first time mommy and will be delivering my first baby August 21. I'm scared..I hear it's one of the worst pains a woman goes through, yet worth it :) but my question is "would it make a difference if I get the epidural shot? I heard it just numbs the lower part of your body but not that much. Than I hear others that it does." I also hear from my mom and mother in law that I shouldn't and I should do it natural. I don't know what to do. I kind of don't wanna do the shot just because I also heard it causes back pain later on in life and plus every time I've gotten shots to numb me (example dentice) it never numbs me or works. It is probably way different than the shot they give you for labor but I just need some help and suggestions. I wanna hear from other moms that have gone through this I'm kind of scared too...