Why is the thought of Natural birth in the US so taboo ? ?

myself and my Friend who are from the UK were speaking to her relative from the US , and she and my Friend have both has babies recently - and the difference between the births was amazing - my Friend had a water birth and no pain relief in the UK and her cousin seemed surprised - she had her baby in the US and she said she had an epidural, and she said it was very medical compared to my Friends birth - she said it's unusual for obstetricians in the US to allow a women to have a drug free birth - she wanted one herself - is this a widespread occurrence and why is Natural birth with no drugs frowned upon ?