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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