I had heard of women claiming to have had an orgasm during childbirth, but to me it was another false myth. I have always associated pleasure with sex and childbirth with pain, or rather with the possibility of not feeling it.
And reality and science have shown me that I was very wrong. Having an orgasm is possible during a respected delivery, as a woman’s sexual organs and pleasure hormones are heavily involved in birth.
Scientific basis
Childbirth is for most women an incomparable act of love, but one that is lived with pain. In fact, women look for natural alternatives to try to alleviate it, such as adopting different postures, massages, breathing techniques … And in that sense, a pleasant delivery is usually a way of saying “it has not been so hard .”
But scientists say that you can give birth with the help of an explosion of pleasure triggered by an orgasm. The pain is reduced to bearable and the mother feels that she has just experienced the most important act of love of her life. Regaining contact with uterine sexuality and creating a favorable environment are essential to achieve this.
What distinguishes these few lucky women? This is the question that was already asked in the 70s by the French obstetrician, Michel Odent, one of the great defenders of physiological childbirth, and which led him to affirm that: “the main function of orgasm is to give birth. All women should give birth to the biggest orgasm of our lives. “
According to Dr. Beverly Whipple, a renowned international sexologist, orgasm is possible because the pressure exerted by the baby’s head on the pelvic nervous system stimulates many of the points that play a decisive role in vaginal, cervical and clitoral orgasms.
And he adds that during childbirth, oxytocin levels increase, the love hormone that is also secreted in more quantity when we are in love, with people who make us feel good and when we have sex.
Less pain and more pleasure
Enjoying a respected birth and controlling pain is a very widespread desire among future moms. But it is not always possible. That is why studies are surprising that assure that childbirth would hurt much less if women masturbated.
This is stated by the New York psychologist Barry Komisaruk, one of the greatest experts in female orgasms, who has managed to quantify the benefits of vaginal and clitoral self-stimulation of women in pain control.
Thus, if the woman can feel less pain during labor if she achieves several orgasms during dilation and delivery.
Also the sexologist Yvonne Fullbright, opts in favor of the benefits of orgasm to control pain. She assures that in order to fully enjoy the moment of childbirth, one must overcome fears, assume that pregnancy is not an obstacle to sexual life, be willing to embrace the idea of unlimited pleasure during childbirth, and not put psychological barriers to the arrival of the moment.
But it is difficult to live it like that, according to our cultural background. A childbirth is seen socially as something painful and unpleasant and, despite being a sexual act, as this sexologist and other scholars on the subject assure, intimacy during childbirth is almost an impossible mission and in these conditions it is difficult to become uninhibited.
Nor could we exclude from these expert opinions the American midwife Ina May Gaskin, one of the key figures in the worldwide movement for respected childbirth. In a meeting with her in Madrid in November 2018, he explained why some women almost even feel offended even with the possibility of experiencing pleasure while giving birth, since it is almost exclusively associated with making love.
“I think this kind of reaction has a lot to do with the fact that the medical model of birth has erased the obvious fact that women give birth with their sexual organ. More confusion is due to women in our culture They are not taught that their vaginal tissues have the ability to swell similar to the penis. “
And he adds that:
“Many women believe that when a baby passes through the vagina, that organ stretches and loses effectiveness. But if it is treated well (it does not undergo a routine episiotomy, artificial hormones or forceps), it swells dramatically, as these tissues have the ability to hold a large amount of blood when childbirth stimulates ecstasy hormones (oxytocin and beta-endorphins). Under these circumstances, the stimulated vagina works well at birth. “
Testimonies of orgasms in childbirth
Still not seeing it clearly? In this case, it may be interesting to watch the trailer for the documentary ‘Orgasmic Birth’, where seven women and their partners invite to share their most intimate moments, the orgasmic, joyful, sensual and revolutionary birth, which poses a definite challenge to our myths cultural
Expert opinions, interviewed for the film, offer interesting points of view on the subject.
For example, obstetrician and gynecologist Christiane Northrup, points out the positive effects of orgasm in postpartum depression:
“I think the connection between overuse of intervention and postpartum depression is huge. If women were to experience the bliss of birth, it would have the effect of making them overcome the hormonal changes of the following week. Your body and your inner wisdom will help you. give that height “.
And we want to keep the encouragement of the Brazilian obstetrician Ricardo Jones, to pregnant women, so that they trust in his wisdom:
“There is a parallel between sexuality and childbirth. When you are giving birth, trust yourself. Trust your inner power, your ability to give life. This is something absolutely sacred that any woman possesses. A doctor, a nurse and all the midwives in the world are people who are not in a position to teach a woman to give birth, but to facilitate the work she already knows how to do. “
Photos | iStock
In Babies and More | Why many midwives don’t talk about ‘contractions’ and call them ‘waves’ or ‘bursts’, Mothers are too tired to have sex, according to a study that reveals nothing new
