How can I have an orgasmic birth?

The preparation for orgasmic birth is as individual, and in many ways, as subtle as opening to orgasm in sexual activity, but many of the components are the same.

Consider the basic biology of sexual activity: it takes energy, stamina, focus, and relaxation. Another aspect to finding sexual pleasure is having privacy. As birth involves the same hormones as sexual activity at even greater levels, privacy is of utmost importance.

Yet another critical factor is environment: we know how to set the stage for romance, and, not surprisingly, this matters too when it comes to knowing ecstasy in birth. Many women long for the comfort and intimacy of having a baby at home but choose hospital birth for fear that something may go wrong, not realizing how much the stress commonly generated by hospital procedures and routines can undermine hormones of birth. This can lead to a cascade of interventions that not only make orgasmic birth unlikely, but threaten vaginal birth.

Some women planning hospital birth think it’s just a matter of being strong and keeping their determination firm so these interventions don’t happen. This would be like trying to stay alert for a important phone call in the midst of making love! The key to orgasmic birth is surrender, just as is true of orgasm in sexual encounters. Women need to be in a place, and with attendants, that honor and protect their need for privacy.

How is birth part of a woman’s sexual life?

Oxytocin is a hormone we release with foreplay, orgasm, and breastfeeding. But it is also released at the mere thought of making love, and sometimes, in anticipation of nursing or when our baby cries. This is why it is called the love hormone.

At no time in our lives are oxytocin levels higher than during labor, birth, and the moments immediately after when we greet our newborn. Oxytocin is the hormone responsible for uterine contractions, so it naturally follows that we can enhance labor, strengthen it, and make it go more smoothly, by feeling safe and loving with those around us.

As oxytocin levels increase, our response does too, bringing on sensations and behaviors that are sexual and may become orgasmic. In addition, there is tremendous sensation in the vagina with birth, much engorgement of the tissues of labia and clitoris with intense pressure from the baby’s head.

Many women do not realize that artificial oxytocin (Pitocin) used to induce or stimulate labor stops natural oxytocin production. Our brains have no receptors for Pitocin, so if it is used, the ecstatic, loving, orgasmic dimensions of birth disappear.

Using a minimum of interventions is key to experiencing a sexual and orgasmic birth. Many women who have this experience claim it changed them forever, dramatically increasing their self-confidence, their trust in themselves, and, not surprisingly, their ability to experience new heights of sexual pleasure.

When the laboring woman feels undisturbed and relaxed, her hormones can flow easily and help both her and her baby. Oxytocin will be released efficiently from her middle brain, enhancing the efficiency of labor and adding safety factors for her and her baby. Beta-endorphin, along with oxytocin, will provide natural pain relief. These and other hormones will peak at the moment of birth, giving pleasure and reward to the new mother and helping her to attach to her newborn and the newborn to attach to her.

How does sexual stimulation reduce pain in labor and birth?

The same hormones that are present during childbirth occur in all other episodes of women’s sexual lives, including lovemaking and orgasm. These hormones, when allowed to flow naturally and without disturbance, help reduce the pain of labor.

Think about how your body feels when you are absorbed in a sexual encounter. You are relaxed and open . . . your body is receptive to touch . . . and the more aroused you become, the more stimulation you can handle. Actually, you desire it! The greater the arousal, the more a woman enjoys vigorous penetration and intense sexual stimulation.

This adjustment and growth in desire are supported by our hormones. The desire for intense stimulation is nature’s way to make sure that a woman will be a willing and excited participant in making babies. Researchers have found that pleasurable stimulation of the clitoris and some areas of the vagina reduces the perception of pain.