I just finished renting and watching the film “Orgasmic Birth” http://www.orgasmicbirth.com/
I have to say I was more than skeptical about this film purely based on the title. However, I was impressed by the quality and amount of information that the film provided. For those who have not seen the film, it does discuss the possibility of orgasm during birth but also discusses the possibility of ecstatic birth which to me, seems more realistic.
As Dr. Sarah Buckley in 2005 explains http://www.sarahjbuckley.com/articles/ecstatic-birth.htm
“Giving birth is an act of love, and each birth is unique to the mother and her baby. Yet we also share the same womanly physiology, and the same exquisite orchestration of our birthing hormones. Our capacity for ecstasy in birth is also both unique and universal, a necessary blessing that is hard-wired into our bodies, yet that requires, especially in these times, that we each trust, honor, and protect the act of giving birth according to our own instincts and needs”
“Giving birth in ecstasy: This is our birthright and our body’s intent. Mother Nature, in her wisdom, prescribes birthing hormones that take us outside (ec) our usual state (stasis), so that we can be transformed on every level as we enter motherhood.
This exquisite hormonal orchestration unfolds optimally when birth is undisturbed, enhancing safety for both mother and baby. Science is also increasingly discovering what we realise as mothers – that our way of birth affects us life-long, both mother and baby, and that an ecstatic birth — a birth that takes us beyond our self — is the gift of a life-time.
Four major hormonal systems are active during labor and birth. These involve oxytocin, the hormone of love; endorphins, hormones of pleasure and transcendence; adrenaline and noradrenaline (epinephrine and norepinephrine), hormones of excitement; and prolactin, the mothering hormone. These systems are common to all mammals and originate deep in our mammalian or middle brain.
For birth to proceed optimally, this part of the brain must take precedence over the neocortex, or rational brain. This shift can be helped by an atmosphere of quiet and privacy with, for example, dim lighting and little conversation, and no expectation of rationality from the laboring woman. Under such conditions a woman intuitively will choose the movements, sounds, breathing, and positions that will birth her baby most easily. This is her genetic and hormonal blueprint.
All of these systems are adversely affected by current birth practices. Hospital environments and routines are not generally conducive to the shift in consciousness that giving birth naturally requires. A woman’s hormonal physiology is further disturbed by practices such as induction, the use of pain killers and epidurals, cesarean surgery, and separation of mother and baby after birth.
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My personal experience was not an “orgasmic birth” but I would call it an “ecstatic birth”. I never felt painful contractions. I was able to go “inside of myself” and concentrate on meeting my baby.
Here it is. I wrote this story down after my daughter Ellen’s birth to share with friends and family.
Amy’s “first” bag (the outside layer) of water broke on 7/21 while she had taken the dog to the dog park. Amy and Peter then waited for contractions to start. They took long walks, ate spicy food, and worked on the house.
The next morning, they tried a suggestion from the midwife, to drink Castor oil in a juice or smoothie. Castor oil, is lubricant used for massage and skin moisturizer but when drank orally induces cramping and diarrhea which then is supposed to stimulate the uterus to contract and start your labor. This same day, they went in to the Birth Center and found that the main bag of water was not broken and so the midwife then proceeded to break it. This was at about 3:30p.m. on the 22nd. Amy was also given “baby spice” at this time which is a spice blend that you put on greasy food that the midwives made that is rumored to also help induce labor. Amy, Peter, and Grandma then went from the Birth Center to a pizza place where Amy experienced her first strong contractions from the water breaking while also eating “baby spice” pizza. This made an interesting dining experience.
When they went home that night, contractions relaxed a bit but by 1:30 a.m. they were coming every 5 minutes. Amy called the midwife and she met Peter and Amy at the Birth Center in the middle of the night. When they got there, Amy was dilated 5 cm and they were admitted into the “labor suite” with a “birth in progress” sign on the door. At about 6 a.m. the birthing tub was filled right as Amy started to experience transition into the most difficult part of labor.
Soon after she got in the tub, Amy experienced the need to push and the pushing phase started as the tub’s warm water helped to soothe this process. After about two hours of pushing in the tub, when the baby was crowning, it was suggested that they tried changing positions to push Ellen out.
It was orchestrated by the midwifery team that she would get up and try to labor on a birthing stool but as soon as Amy was helped up, she felt unable to lift her legs out of the tub and knew that Ellen needed to be pushed out at that minute. The team readied around Amy to help brace the standing position, and catch the baby. In a couple of large pushes right after each other, Ellen’s head came out and with a couple more in the same sequence, the rest of her body did. She was born at 9:43 am with the help of her midwife Jennifer, her daddy, and the Women’s Health and Birth center team.
Ellen was caught and was placed into Amy’s arms while she was still standing and the cord was cut to bank her cord blood. She let out a small brief cry and opened her eyes to look around after she was wrapped wrapped with towels while still in her mom’s arms. Then she was passed to Peter while Amy was helped out of the tub and into a bed.
When brought onto Amy’s chest she was alert, pink and opened her mouth and latched on with no coaching. Ellen’s birth was fast, loud, un-medicated.
Both mom and baby were in a euphoric state from all of the hard work that was done. Peter and Amy rested afterwards on a queen bed together, cuddled with Ellen, talked to her, nursed her, ordered breakfast from the organic restaurant next door and Peter fed Amy pancakes while Ellen happily suckled. In 6 hours, they were able to go home if they chose. Though comfy and amazingly attended to by nursing staff there, they packed up their things when time ran out and were able to take their daughter home. Any routine newborn screens were done by the nurses climbing onto the bed to meet the family, while Ellen was held by her mom or her dad. There was an incredible feeling of strength, pride, power and love in the room. The nurses walked the new family out to the car, helped carry their things and made sure their car seat was safe for baby. Peter and Amy hugged them goodbye and thanked them for sharing the experience with them.At 3:43 p.m. on July 23rd, 2009, they took Ellen home to meet grandma who was waiting to meet her.
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The film points out that many women that have positive birth stories, feel like they should not share them because so many women have negative birth experiences with endless interventions, cesareans, etc. But I believe that we need to all share our birth experiences so that women are aware of the many different ways birth can be. No two births are the same and there are many ways to give birth.
The film is worth watching. You can “rent” it for 7 days on Amazon for only $1.99 and please read the full article from Dr. Sarah Buckley
Amy
