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Lack of good sexual education has led to a rise in fear of childbirth and dissatisfaction with the experience. Debra highlights the importance of having a positive experience during labor and birth, emphasizing the importance of trusting one’s body. Midwives play an important role in making women feel confident and empowered in the childbirth process. It is important for people to have access to trained midwives who can provide support during labor and delivery. The Global Survey on Birth and Breastfeeding Practices was convened to launch a global initiative to improve breastfeeding rates. Debra talks about how collaborating with other organizations have led to a number of successes, including the creation of the International Childbirth Initiative. Debra also tackles the effects of bad birth experiences on people’s feelings about their bodies and relationships.

What an important and personal discussion I had with Sarah Bivens from Doing It At Home, a company helping parents to feel confident, prepared and excited for home birth She shared a bit of her own birth story and decision to change from a hospital birth to a home birth and then we dove deep into her practices that include utilizing sexual energy for manifestation, healing and joy (as opposed to only looking at it for procreation, fun and/or duty)!

She shared how important it is for us to do our own work on having healthy relationship to sexuality and went onto discuss sexuality as a pillar of health (in all senses of the term) that impacts creativity and expression.

Watch our conversation below.

Tilly shared her story of how her first birth opened her up to a pleasurable birth experience and she wanted that feeling of being fully connected to her body again without having to be in labor. She explains how “Birth has a way of awakening and pushing up our trauma and drama “ and how healing is at the root of what holds many people back from experiencing their pleasure and desire to its fullest. Yes!! For me this is so important to consider as pregnancy, birth, and early parenting benefit so much from healing and as Tilly said acknowledging that intergenerational trauma – what is handed down from our ancestors, impacts us and now as a new parent you have a choice of bringing healing and providing your children with a different story and healthy connection to their body, pleasure, and sexuality. I asked her and ask you to consider what the world would be like if everyone had a positive relationship to your body, pleasure, and sexuality with great sexual education so you can experience your pleasure in birth to its fullest?

I would love to hear your thoughts?

My husband ran to press the button that opens the condominium door on the bottom floor (we’re on the third). He ran back to me, I pushed out our baby, and he put her on my chest. The whole birth team rushed in together. “We’re here!!! OMG you did it!! We’re here! You did amazing!!” I heard the click-click of the camera. I had done it. Maria Elena was so sweet looking up at me. She stretched and seemed to like having extra space. We stared at each other. It was pure magic.

I had a very smooth pregnancy and actually felt some gratitude towards this crazy situation (Covid). I normally travel a lot for work and was worried that my work travel schedule would create stress during my pregnancy. Since we had to be at home, I really slowed down, became more present, and even further connected with my husband during this special time in our lives. Up until little Oliver’s arrival, I stayed as active as possible walking, swimming, and practicing yoga.

Together with the help of many birth keepers, we’ve compiled a list of the birth groups and ways you can donate, send supplies and hold both the MotherBaby-Families and those providing care in your heart and prayers for safety, strength, and with love. We will continue to surround them with love and support in these challenging times.

Please comment below or email us to add additional resources. Our document is a living doc, and we will update as more information comes in.

A hospital with a bed and stirrups is definitely lacking in privacy and feeling unobserved, and it may not be as safe as you’d like.

The process of labor and birth is controlled by a carefully orchestrated set of hormones and processes. These processes are enhanced by the environment and the comfort and calm that can be maintained. A birthing person feeling stress or adrenaline will reduce the building hormones needed to continue moving labor forward.

So, when you walk into a birth room and only see a bed and stirrups, your response should be “what else do you have available for comfort and privacy during birth?”

One of her proudet moments, 💓💫
The home birth of her second daughter.
The pregnancy she experienced as a single mama.
The birth she planned as a single mama.
The birth she achieved as a single mama.
And now raising her two girls as a single mama.

DONA International is one of the oldest and most respected Doula Organizations in the world. I’ve been a Birth and Postpartum Doula Trainer for most of my career, and I am honored to be a part of this exceptional organization. Read my guide to becoming a DONA certified doula.

The anatomy of birth is the anatomy of pleasure, intimacy, and sacred sexuality. Birth moves a baby through a cervix, vagina, opens the labia, and touches clitoral nerves – all that under the right conditions can also bring pleasure and orgasm. I always say if you were to tell a person with a penis that they would have sensations there for over 10 hours, but that it isn’t sexual, that they would look at you like they were crazy!

After a year-long, community-centered process led by Every Mother Counts, the Choices in Childbirth series launches this week! This is a FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND educational hub for pregnancy, birth, and beyond–including films, worksheets, and helpful advice to guide every stage of your maternity care … Continued

Guest post While everyone always congratulates the soon-to-be mother, a celebration may be the last thing on your mind when you find out you’ll soon be bringing a new life into the world. From endless doctor’s appointments and constant cramps … Continued

How Birth Effected her Sexuality TW: miscarriage    shared by Aimee I have had six incredible birth journeys, each one beautifully supported and held. I felt empowered to make my own decisions and supported to traverse to the depths of … Continued

The First Sight is Everything – Homebirth Story of Danae The hardest, proudest, most intense, beautiful, empowering, healing, soul connecting, incredible experience of my life! ~ birthing my son at home. Never in a million years did I think I … Continued

The White House Hosts the Maternal Health Day of Action focusing on fixing our Maternal Health Crisis

If you need support contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673 When Survivors Give Birth Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault Our webinar covered difficult feelings that can be challenging, and yet is essential to talk about. I hope as you listen … Continued

By the time you got pregnant, chances are you saw plenty of people on TV and in movies having painful, difficult births, complete with lots of screaming and crying (and maybe a spouse’s hand being squished, too).

But what if birth didn’t have to be anything like that? What if it could be pleasurable? It turns out that there’s a movement trying to help more people experience this type of orgasmic birth.

I felt like I had to learn how to push.

It was the most POWERFUL feeling I could ever imagine and I was in awe of my animal nature. It was as if the power of all the women before me was coming through as I roared and roared. Laurence and Francesca were like my cheerleaders. They were so so amazing, words can’t explain.

Catching Your Own Baby shared by Hannah Atterberry, Empowerment Birth Services My birth was such an incredible journey. It was long… it was intense… and oh. So. Satisfying! Intense, transcending, beautiful, empowering, powerful all describe my birth perfectly. My daughter … Continued

When I told him “I study pleasure experienced during birth,” he said, “There’s no such thing.” Author: Elisabeth Bolaza Here’s how it went down. I was a very large 6-months pregnant with my second baby with the audacity to travel … Continued

One of the greatest joys of being the founder of the Orgasmic Birth movement is meeting people around the world who are in all different places of healing and expanding into their vision for birth and parenting.

I’ll never forget meeting Sarah-Jane at our Eat Pray Doula retreat in Bali. It was particularly special because Sarah-Jane was preparing to welcome her second child. We were not only able to spend a beautiful time together during our eight-day retreat, but afterwards we enjoyed many hours together as she moved through the many emotions and healing from her first birth as she prepared for her second.

I loved watching her create her incredible and supportive birth team as she prepared for a beautiful Orgasmic Birth. I’m so excited to share our special webinar – reconnecting and sharing not only her ecstatic birth story but with inspirational tips and wisdom as she is birthing forward her wisdom in some very special ways.

Seeing each person find their power in birth is an honour beyond what I have words to describe, I invite you to hear for yourself Sarah-Jane’s power of birth. ~Debra

Wolfgang Martin Winter (Wolf) was born at home on February 25th at 3:23am. This is his birth story. To start the story of Wolfgang’s birth I have to rewind a bit. In May of 2017 Wolf’s big sister, Violet was … Continued

Having an Orgasmic Birth with Renee Rodriguez Renée Rodriguez talks about her experience of pregnancy as a woman in the corporate world and how she was able to explore birth options that were as dynamic as her changing life. She … Continued

Are you ready to begin your doula practice or learn how to support your partner, friend, or family at their birth? BECOME A DOULA Download my free guide9 Steps to become a working doula [in less than 1 month] Plus, … Continued

Renée Rodriguez talks about her experience of pregnancy as a woman in the corporate world and how she was able to explore birth options that were as dynamic as her changing life. She highlights how involving sexuality throughout both of her labors transformed her state of mind and being, ultimately leading to two orgasmic births. With her stories, she aims to emphasize that you don’t need perfect conditions or a perfect pregnancy to have an orgasmic birth.

Find more resources for expectant parents: https://orgasmicbirth.thinkific.com/for-parents

Yanique Bell is a Tantric Intimacy and Empowerment Coach, also known as the Pussy Queen. She helps wild-hearted woman reclaim their pussies and unlock their sacred potential.

She got her Bachelor’s in Religion from Princeton University, where as a former pre-med student, she focused on the relationship between Religion and Science. A long-time lover of the mystical with a deep hunger for knowledge, Yanique takes an approach to healing and actualization that weaves both ancient wisdom and modern science. She’s gone from being a celibate people-pleasing Christian good-girl, someone who was “holy and broken” to a woman who is “whole and complete.” And now, she’s here to guide you deeper and deeper into YOUR personal wild.

She joined my Orgasmic Birth Practitioner Members (interested, learn more here) for a webinar and I’m excited to share a snippet of that with you today.

Are you dreaming of your birth with many swirling emotions? 
Would you like to have a safe, gentle birth with respect and love? 
Are you afraid of the pain and wondering if you can do it? 
Are you confused? 

There are so many options and stories it’s hard to know what is best.
A doula can make the difference to help you achieve the birth you desire!

Carolyn DeLucia, MD., FACOG is a board-certified OB/GYN helping women to regain their feminine empowerment through sexual wellness by solving painful sex, lack of sensation, and pleasure. She helps women to restore their confidence, reconnect with their partners and reclaim their lives. She is also the author of Ultimate Intimacy.

Dr. DeLucia shares a review of female anatomy, G-Spot, Clitoris and the effects of childbirth, menopause, and estrogen on the vaginal walls and sexual sensation.

She also shares a beautiful understanding of how our vulvas are each like a snowflake, beautiful, and unique.

🌝🌺

My dharma is to raise you, Harmony Riot, in the consciousness of this Essence which lives and breathes inside of you. I love you from the depths of my being and I will model to you how to love yourself above all else and then offer that love to the world 🌎

WOMBen… take your power back, reclaim your birth, you just might hold more strength than you realize… I bow to you, Namaste 🙏

Our guest, Sheila Kamara Hay shares 3 key topics birth practitioners need to know to support pleasurable birth. You’ll learn about reconnecting with your body’s wisdom, expansive pleasure, and how to have an ecstatic birth amongst the intensity that comes with labor. She calls this “Body, Bliss, and Ecstatic Birth”. If you want to watch Sheila’s full interview and other guest experts, be sure to join our wait list for our Orgasmic Birth Practitioners: https://www.orgasmicbirth.com/practitionerwaitlist

Elizabeth Clyde, the author of Pregnant and Empowered, retells her birth stories and discusses her experience as an African American millennial mother. She advises pregnant people to make birth a mental experience and to make it their own. She found the presence of mind to be a powerful, reflexive tool that is useful whether a birth experience is a marathon or a sprint. Elizabeth emphasizes the importance of advocating as the primary care for your child and explores how disparities emerge from lack of encouragement toward education. The power in birthing and nursing a child is one that should be chosen but is too often stolen away.

Regardless, I had set everything up to make sure this birth was everything I wanted. I had been suprised weeks before, on return from a rare outting, by Bodhi and Clint, who had decorated our loungeroom and from that moment on it was referred to as our birthing space. Bodhi meticulously positioned the birth pool in the exact spot it was for his birth, we had blockout curtains on every doorway, fairy lights, affirmations, crystals, diffusers, homeopathy, essential oils, blankets, towels, baby cloths, cloth nappies, GoPros and cameras set up… I wanted to spend time floating in the birth pool before birthing in there with Clint and Bodhi in the pool too, and my birth plan even listed Bodhi as one of the people to “catch the baby”. I had taken him shopping in the weeks leading up for his own mirror as he had become equally as obsessed as me with watching birthing videos and seeing the baby crown. I had an Erykah Badu playlist ready (I think she’s a Queen and FUN FACT she is a Doula; more on that at another time), I had planned everything to the T. Which oils would be in the diffuser at each stage of labour, I had premixed roller bottles with instructions of when and how to apply, I had a memo on the wall of when to call Janine and Me

After many months of struggling to conceive and with the help of fertility assistance, we were finally pregnant! I went in for an early ultrasound to make sure everything was progressing normally and then – TWINS!! The first thought that went through my head was – “oh no!!! My birth!!” Thinking I may be doomed to a medicalized hospital birth or cesarean. Little did I know I was already under the care of remarkable midwives who had vast experience supporting twin home births, so the doors of possibilities for a positive and peaceful home birth experience were still wide open to me!

Let’s talk about our Rights In Birth.

Not just those that we “expect” like quality care, and respect, but even more. It’s time to start demanding that birth is more than just another medical procedure, that it can be full of love, pleasure and power.

Today, I’m sharing with you what I call your “Pleasure Rights” in Birth.

1. You have a right to a Pleasurable Birth (SHOCKING? But I believe it’s the basis of all rights in birth.)

Bailey Gaddis Birth Story My labor came on strong and fast. For the first hour one contraction would roll right into the next, and I was convinced the Mexican food I had earlier that evening was wrecking havoc on my … Continued

Caroline, a Doula and birth photographer from Belgium walks us through her two different birth stories and talks about how she learned from the first to advocate throughout the second. This involved making decisions based on what felt right for her body and overall exploring her options and finding ways to make them possible. Caroline discusses the important role that movement played in her second birth and how the support of her birth “crew” felt like the final pieces coming together for her complete experience.

Michelle and Rodrigo were able to grow through the sacred experience of birth as a couple. They highlight the importance of using a doula as well as educating onesself on the options of labor and knowing what to expect. Throughout their experience they prioritized honest communication and normalizing when things don’t go according to plan. Also, their discussion of a birth ambiance featuring a neutral yet decorated safe space mentions the use of calling upon ancestry for assistance and support.

Nienke de Leeuw, a midwife of Vive, a group based in Amsterdam, talks us through her two birth stories and her discovery, exploration, and experience of orgasmic birth. She describes a transformation she took on within her role as a midwife to explore pleasure and joy in birth as a result of her own experiences and expansion of ideology. Nienke also discusses the benefits she has experienced with sensual dance and emphasizes the importance of prioritizing self love before and after pregnancy.

Reena, a Balinese midwife, moved to Belgium with her partner and gave birth to two children in a completely new culture. We got together to catch up, and she shares with me about her first and second births, the things she changed, and how she healed.
Using all of her knowledge as a midwife, her first birth experience, and her love of Bali, Reena worked to create an environment that would remind her of the comforts of her Bali home. With the help of a supportive team, Reena was able to feel confident in her second birth.

In Part V of our six-part video series with Dr. Sarah Buckley, we discuss the sexuality of childbirth. Childbirth is Sexual??  Yes, it actually is! There are so many parallels between sex and birth, and neither flow as well when … Continued

Induction of labor has become increasingly common but is not always successful because of how it differs from physiological onset of labor. The optimal number of oxytocin receptors are often not yet ready during induction which means contractions can be longer, stronger, and closer together. This hormonal gap can be closed, however, with skin to skin contact as well as breastfeeding.

Your Brain, Birth and Pleasure: Mother Nature’s Superb Design – Dr. Sarah Buckley discusses the positive feedback loop of hormones in childbirth.  Learn why birth is designed to be the best first date ever to fall in love and get ready for a lifetime of parenting.  Understand how to have an ecstatic birth,  how to set up a birth environment according to the science of our brains and why birthing a baby requires the same environment as making a baby.

This birth turned off the little voice in my head that shut down every ambition and good idea I had and turned on my self-confidence, my power, my curiosity, and erased every bit of fear I have ever had. It was a transformative moment that changed me forever. The work I did during my pregnancy, the support team I built for myself, the active role I took in my birth, it all had impacts far beyond the delivery room, and is the fuel behind my lifelong passion to improve the maternal experience.

When Birth Isn’t What You Expected: 3 Lessons by Kaitlin McGreyes Kaitlin had three very different births that reflect her journey from new mom to seasoned birthworker and advocate for women’s health. Each experience offered lessons and room for growth … Continued

Bengkung or Stagen is considered as the ancient way of healing. This product’s primary function for the postnatal mother is to make the mother feel warm and comfortable.

Is there something going on that you know you must address, as Debra did?

Is this your wake up call?

Debra has decided to do another 30 Day Transformation in January and we are excited to invite you to learn more about what’s involved as you design your pleasurable 2021.

Join us December 16th at 1pm PT | 4pm ET to an intimate Zoom with Debra and I, where we will share more about our journeys and how this nutrition may support you. Here’s the link. We look forward to midwifing you along the path of transforming your health.

by Naomi In February I gave birth to our second daughter, Nirvana Freya Lee. I was alone when she arrived and received her into my arms myself. It was a powerful and sacred moment. Here’s how her amazing birth unfolded… … Continued

Our home birth was so amazing, I keep going over the events in my mind, hoping to remember every little detail. It was three months ago now, and I still get goosebumps.

by Nena Complo When you were almost here, about ready to emerge I knelt upon my bed, and fell into deep prayer To you I told you about everyone in the room, loving you and waiting for you I confided … Continued

by Alejandra Lozano, LCCE, Midwife, Orgasmic Birth Community Manager Since the birth of her son Mariano, she became passionate about birth, and began her preparation to become a professional and traditional midwife, with the intention that more women have the … Continued

October is Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month. About one in four pregnancies ends in pregnancy loss. For many people this can be an emotional process, and it is important that they receive care in a setting that is comfortable and safe.

Amy Wright Glenn, the Founder of The Institute for Birth, Breathe and Death has a special, limited time offer for you to expand your knowledge in supporting families around loss.

You are the expert on your body and your baby! Your care providers should be like lifeguards there to help you when you need assistance, but otherwise they sit quietly in the corner as you navigate the gentle waters, giving you the privacy and safety you need to experience the intimacy and joy of childbirth.

How do you begin to prepare for an Orgasmic Birth?

I had these intense and close-knit contractions for over 14 hours, and now comes the surprising thing about my case: Those uterine contractions were completely painless to me.

Despite the stupefaction of the nurses and the gynecologist who attended me, my uterine contractions were completely painless …

On multiple occasions they offered me epidural anesthesia, I always rejected it. I felt no pain at all.

What was going on in my uterus? For a time I thought that I might have some kind of special sensitivity to pain. But later I found out that it wasn’t that at all.

I was overdue and went to Red Tent for acupuncture induction. Five days later I had the most amazing birth experience.

My partner and I were at the beach all day walking and resting as I was experiencing the gentle beginning of contractions.

I want to share with you the 4 ways that breastfeeding impacts you and your relationship that you won’t find in all the searches!

You have become a mother/parent. Life has changed, you have changed, and so has your body. The sooner you learn to love the new you, the many benefits you, your partner your baby will see and feel.

Are you so consumed with thinking about birthing your baby that the thoughts of parenting seem far in the distance?

Prepare your roadmap for fun and sex now. Why your birth matters.

I honor and celebrate you! You have become (or are about to become) a parent. You are doing the most important job in the world to shape the next generation with your love and parenting.

I remember when I first became a parent and wondered why there is no preparation for parenting that includes all the changes you will experience in your relationship and sexuality.

I couldn’t find any book that honored this aspect of the major life transition of parenting.

There was nothing out there that celebrated mothers, and all birthing people, and our new and changed bodies.

Childbirth is a portal of self-knowledge and connection, and motherhood is a channel for the present. I was studying postmodern midwifery at the Da-a-Luz school, Andalucía, Spain, in a community very focused on women, nature and alternative ways of living. Most of the people there live in trailers, caravans and tents; they spend most of the day outside and live very closely with their neighbors. The school’s classes take place in a vagina-shaped building, and we study inside the womb. After having spent 5 years using IUDs, and 4 of them without menstruating, it was a huge reconnection with my feminine to know this school and these people: to live with women planting their menstrual blood, holding women’s circles, singing at the fire and bathing in the river. After the first year at school, I got pregnant by my partner Elijah, and we decided to give birth there.

Join Debra Pascali-Bonaro and Carlita Singletary as they talk about community doulas, life lessons learned and what being a doula means for you and your clients. 

Join our Pleasurable Birth Essentials Online Class to Positively Prepare for your Birth!

“I knew this birth would be different from Odyns, from all that came in between, and it was my second baby after all, but I don’t think I could’ve seen this. Since around December 12 I’d been having start and stop contractions and felt like labor would come at any time. Of course the next weeks were torture because nothing ever came of any of it…”

El nacimiento de Mariano, el día que pari mi cuerpo.

Desde el momento en que supe que estaba embarazada todo mi pensamiento se fue a investigar el proceso, los cambios que sucederían, el desarrollo de mi bebé y el parto, lo que mas me intrigaba era el tema de la epidural, le tenia una especie de terror a esa intervención… no había a quien preguntarle mas que a mi mamá que decía que no era para tanto, seguí investigando hasta que encontré la opción del parto en agua en Monterrey, Nuevo León, México, lo que me llevo a encontrar cursos de preparación para el parto (me sirvieron muchísimo) y fue donde encontré a mi partera, en ese momento mi vida cambio totalmente, estaba decidida a tener un parto en casa (y a convertirme en partera), no había otra opción posible en mi cabeza, así tendría que ser, a costa de lo que fuera.

I began moaning and doing my best to keep the sound flowing, as it seemed to help me stay afloat. With my knees on the floor and my arms gripping the pillows tightly in front of me, my body was in control. I attempted to quiet my mind and began rocking back and forth now, as opposed to side to side like I’d done while standing. I kept thinking about how I should try to perceive the sensations as interesting instead of painful. Some of the time, I found I was able to flow through part of a contraction as though I were simply witnessing an intense feeling, observing a wild ride that my body was on. Though, much of the time, I was experiencing it as the most intense pain I’ve ever felt, only comparable to the birth of my son.

Interestingly, Daddy and I had only very recently had a conversation about having another baby. About how, after being told that it was unlikely that we would have children naturally and trying for three and a half years for Indi, we felt incredibly blessed and completely accepting of the fact that we may only have one child.

Clearly you had other ideas about that!

Indi and I went for a walk to the pharmacy and that night, after she was asleep and without thinking to tell Daddy about my suspicions, I did the pregnancy test. I was so shocked at the positive result that I couldn’t speak and just went downstairs and showed it to Papa. Understandably, he was a little confused about the situation, and it took a few minutes for what he was seeing to sink in.

We sat and held one another for quite a long time while we let the news soak in. What a truly wonderful Christmas gift. I did have one concern though: how on earth was I going to find the same amount of love for another baby, that I had for your sister? Was my capacity to love that great?

Apart from nausea and some extra tiredness until I was around 14 weeks pregnant, early pregnancy was fairly uneventful with you! The biggest challenge for me was breastfeeding your sister through the intensely sensitive nipples I had during those first weeks! My pregnancy was busy, healthy and active and the months whizzed by. Naturally, we planned a home birth for you.

Eita Segawa was the inspirational organizer of the first Orgasmic Birth Screening in Japan. I was moved to meet him as the universe’s divine timing had me in Japan with Kiyoe to teach doula workshops at the exact time Orgasmic … Continued

I take drugs, but only when I’m giving birth How is it that we have become more comfortable with technology, drugs and artificial hormones in childbirth, while at the same time we are seeing a movement back towards natural food … Continued

“When you add Pleasure to Pain – Pain can become Pleasurable!” -Carina to Arizona in Grey’s Anatomy when discussing using masturbation to get a laboring mother’s natural oxytocin to flow, moving labor along in the most pleasurable way possible! Grey’s … Continued

Take 3 minutes to sit comfortably and consider which door you will choose when planning to birth with pleasure. Feel your connection to the earth, the floor, your breathe. Now, take 3 deep breaths and begin to feel your body … Continued

What’s It Actually Like to Have an Orgasmic Birth? By Nina Bahadur   “Orgasmic birth—a phenomenon of labor and delivery being pleasurable, also called ecstatic birth—is a controversial topic. One study estimates about 0.3 percent of women experience one. Some … Continued