Sarah J Buckley, MD
In Orgasmic Birth, you mention a recent study about the safety of home birth. What does the research say about the safety of home birth compared to hospital birth for women who are at low risk for birth-related problems?
Ina May Gaskin, MA, CPM
What can a woman do to feel safe and private while giving birth?
Why does birth happen differently around women than around male surgeons?
Carrie Contey, PhD
Are babies aware during birth?
Lawrence D. Rosen, MD
How does the birth process affect a baby’s health later in life?
Penny Simkin, PT
Can sexual, physical, or emotional abuse affect a woman years later, when she becomes pregnant?
Marsden Wagner, MD
How do maternal and infant outcomes (what happens to women and their babies after childbirth) in the United States compare with those in other countries?
What should I know about the benefits versus harm of cesarean section to make an informed decision about whether to have one?
Ina May Gaskin, MA, CPM
Why did you start the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project?
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What is 'Orgasmic'?
ôr-gaz'mik
Intense or unrestrained excitement or a similar point of intensity or emotional excitement.
Please share your ecstatic or orgasmic birth story with us. Birth stories are a powerful way of passing along information and creating an awareness of all that is possible in birth. Click here to begin.
Expert Voices
“As a Family Physician I have attended births in hospitals, birth centers, and homes for over 20 years. I have had the honor of witnessing many, many ecstatic births and more than a few outright orgasmic births. It is not the experience of most women, but happens commonly enough to be called normal. Blissful birth can happen in any setting, and I have witnessed it under unlikely circumstances, but it seems more common outside the hospital, during average length-to-short labors, in private and quiet settings, and in unmedicated women (one of the comments ahead of me noted that one should suppress orgasmic feelings out of respect for others). As for trying to prevent the orgasm, that seems to be as likely of success as attempts to prevent the birth — it might be possible, but what would be the point? I appreciate the attention to the important topic of pleasure in parenting. Many women experience blissful sensations during breastfeeding. I wonder what would happen to our breastfeeding rates if more women knew that? And, since the hormones that mediate pleasure are transmitted across the placenta and secreted in breastmilk, I wonder also, what benefits the babies who are born this way may be experiencing?” Elizabeth Allemann, MD
