O-O-O-ORGASMIC BIRTH YOU SAY....

WOW! So thats some headline! Orgasmic birth. Im sure we've all heard about those freaky woman who experiance orgasms during labor and birth. They make noises similar or the same during a contraction as they would during a love making session with their other half. We all think of them as freaks and wonder does this stuff auctually happen?! What do i think about this? Well it could take me a while, even a few days to finish this post as i want to get my research and the way i write it all correct. But, here i go.

If someone had told me 5years ago when i was pregnant with my 1st that achieving an orgasm during labor was quite likely and did happen, i wouldve said they were crazy. After all, id only just discovered the world of the big 'O' myself. Hey, i was only 18! Now all this time, babies and research later i can tell you that this time around i truly believe that it can happen and i cannot wait! So here goes...

Basic female anatomy suggests that we are born with a vagina for the sole purpose of concieving and giving birth. That being said there are 2 things within that purpose. The whole concieving part is something within itself and im sure for alot of us it goes wwwaaayyy beyond the making a baby part. We touch ourselves to feel good. We allow our husbands and partners to touch us to make us both feel good and this leads us to feeling that closeness that no other feels with us. For me, and this is getting personal, when my husband and i kiss and begin to get intimate, just like with any other womans body, we get excited, our body begins to relax and starts to open to allow our male partner to enter. So pretty plain and simple, this is the same concept as an orgasmic birth. Given the privacy and assurance you need during labor, kissing and having your husband touch you and even sex during labor can be such a GREAT thing as 1. it relaxes you and makes you feel good and 2. it helps to open your body ready to bring your baby into the world.
So thats what i think, heres some facts!

 "There are benefits to the mother beyond helping them rid themselves of shame, fear and guilt. An orgasm is 22 times more powerful than a tranquilizer and during sexual arousal a woman's vagina can widen as much as two inches. When women find their power during the birth experience and learn to ride the contractions, it can be an incredible, even healing experience."  Laura Shanley, author of the book Unassisted childbirth.

Note to self: read this book!!

The 'normal' way that women around the world give birth - laying prone in a room full of strangers - is not the natural way. It might even be the cause of some birth problems. Shanley cites a study that showed that when a stranger enters a room where a pregnant monkey is housed, :both the heart rate and the blood pressure of her fetus goes down. Of course, in the delivery room a drop in the heart rate of the baby often triggers a Cesarean section."
Shanley says that stress and 'fight or flight' reactions cause huge changes in a woman's body. "There's a reason that animals seek seclusion in birth. Everyone understands that being in a brightly lit room with a group of people watching you wouldn't make a comfortable environment for someone going to the bathroom or having sex. But for an equally intimate, personal activity like birth, people don't make the connection. Woman don't need to choose between drugs, epidurals, and Cesarean sections on one hand and fear of a natural but painful childbirth on the other. There really is a third way and it's more natural."

So what this is all leading me to tell you and to think is that i need to give birth in an environment i feel safest in. For me, that is my home. If i feel safe in my environment i then obviously need to surround myself with only the people i feel safest with. For me this is my husband and my children. Here i do need to say however that my husband has expressed that he's not completley feeling ok with the idea of an unassisted birth so to comprimise, because i want him to feel safe so he can help me feel safe, we do have a midwife who i see regulary. Shes great although we have also discussed the possibility of calling her "too late" and not calling untill our babys in my arms. We shall see.
Sooo, im feeling safe at home, i have the people i most love surrounding me and giving me strength, ive learnt to trust my body and to believe in what i can do. Honestly, im excited! What are your thoughts??

Orgasmic birth...bring it on!!