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Cliteracy
What a wonderful word!
I love the reaction I receive when I say the word clitoris. At our Eat Pray Doula retreats in Bali, Ibu Robin Lim has us all yell clitoris every time we take a group picture.

Yes we count to three and yell “clitoris” and the pictures captured are always amazing – every person shining and laughing. I have brought that tradition to my Birth Day Presence doula workshops in Brooklyn, NY with the same wonderful results.

You can see it now that you look, can’t you? 😂

For the last fifty years, women have been told that hospital birth is safer than home birth, despite the research showing that this not true. Obviously, if you or your baby have a problem then having a hospital birth would be a sensible decision. If, however, you and your baby are fit and healthy home birth is as safe as birth in hospital.
Obstetric technology was developed to help women and babies with problems but, throughout the developed world those technologies are over-used, and as a result, many women end up with a cesarean operation to save them from the problems the interventions caused in the first place.

What if birth could be one of the most ecstatic, pleasurable and positive experiences of your life?
Our new ebook will guide you through the ABCs of Orgasmic Birth, how to use pleasure as a tool for birth and a bonus real-life orgasmic birth story.

Fortunately, the scientific community is finally catching up with what many of us already knew. There has been an overwhelming amount of studies with findings that are backing up the importance of having doula support during labor. These include fewer birth complications, reduced labor time, a decrease in pain levels, a boost in early breastfeeding scores, and positive mother-infant interaction. WeTheParents demonstrate the importance of 17 evidence-based benefits of doula-support.

So, what can you do?

Review my ten tips above and think about their importance for you to be able to open to birth. Birth is intimate and requires the same hormones to flow as when we are opening to orgasm. Things that will disturb your intimacy will disturb you when you are laboring and giving birth to your baby, can also make birth longer and more painful. Talk to your partner about your feelings, hire a doula and consider taking our online Pleasurable Birth Labor Essentials class to help you expand your Comfort and Pleasure kit, release your fears, and gain the confidence to create the birth your desire in any location with our tips and secrets to a birth filled with pleasure and love.

At that moment 2 Fire fighters show up to witness my husband catching my daughter and lifting her up for the world to see. Not a drop of blood ended up on my husbands clothes or feet which to me is hilarious and amazing!

The moment I pushed her out was the most euphoric feeling I have ever felt.

The “Giving Voice to Mothers Study” only further ignites my excitement to be named Co-Chair of the new International Childbirth Initiative (ICI). The International MotherBaby Childbirth Organization (IMBCO) and the Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) have joined forces developing a single global initiative to provide guidance and support for safe and respectful maternity care, building upon their previous work and incorporating the most recent evidence and insights into what constitutes optimal maternal and newborn health. The Initiative is endorsed by leading birth organizations around the world, and includes “12 Steps to Safe and Respectful MotherBaby-Family Maternity Care.”

Orgasms for the win! I am honored to be included in Kelly Hoover Greenway’s article this week in Romper recently – “5 Benefits Of Orgasm During Pregnancy You Need To Know About!” “If you haven’t heard the term “orgasmic birth,” … Continued

On Sunday, February 11th I woke up feeling a little strange. Nonetheless, as mom’s do- I got ready and my family and I left for the 9:30am service at Orchard Hill Church in Wexford, PA. I was a bit nauseous during the service, and remember stepping out into the lobby for some air. When we returned home, I took this adorable photo of my son, which would become the last picture I took of him as an only child! He was SO excited to become a big brother, and took practicing very seriously.

Creating Space for a Sexy Birth
with Debra Pascali-Bonaro and Amy L. Gilliland, Ph.D., BDT(DONA)
Amy Gilliland joined me for a sexy webinar all about pleasure and birth in any setting.

We share:

Creating comfortable space for your sexuality in birth (even in the hospital)
The role of a doula and partner for your sexy birth
How sexual beliefs, perception and trauma can get in the way of a pleasurable birth
“Great info!! Thank you. Loved the rule of 3, Friendliness hormone, and the fact that pleasure and safety go together. Looking forward to more of these webinars, Amy and Debra!!!”

Today I have a very special reason to thank and celebrate Midwife, Lonnie Morris for not only being my midwife 30 years ago at her birth center in New Jersey, but as a dear friend, colleague and most recently for caring for my daughter Megan and helping to welcome my 4th grandson Jordan into the world!Lonnie and I have had the opportunity to attend many births together – friends, family and clients and most recently for my daughter too.  It is so special when you can trust your children’s birth to the wise loving hands of a midwife you have know since my own births.

10 Years ago, we introduced you to Piper and Chaz as they welcomed their baby in our film, Orgasmic Birth. Since then, they have gone on to have 5 more babies, move to Hawaii, are unschooling their children, and are on a mission to support parents in their journeys to become parents.
Together they are Lovemore Lamaze, teaching Lamaze Childbirth Classes to expectant parents. Piper also serves families as a birth doula, midwife, and freebirthing consultant. Chaz shares his wisdom counseling partners in addressing their own fears and finding their intuition.
In our latest webinar, Piper and Chaz (along with cameos from the Lovemore pack), share their top tips for Communication and preparing for birth as partners. As Piper said “Birth is a grand foreshadowing of the tools you’ll need as a parent. So the less obstruction there is in downloading that information that is trying to come through, perhaps the more ease you’ll have in growing and expanding into parenthood.”

Gabriella A. Nelson shares “”City planners were no innocent bystanders in the abusive history of Black women’s bodies… Evidence indicates that housing instability is associated with low and very low birth weights, preterm delivery, infants that are small for their gestational age, and maternal and infant mortality.”

I gave myself to the process of birth. I trusted it unconditionally. I let go in every way that I could. I completely and entirely surrendered to my body and to the universe. I spent the years after my first cesarean truly soul-searching and working very hard on myself, to heal, to be at peace with my first birth story and most importantly to relinquish the concept of control. This took years of spiritual practice and yoga. When I got pregnant this time around, I felt empowered, peaceful and relaxed. I had no fear, no tension and no anxiety. I finally understood the connection amongst mind, body and soul, as it relates to pregnancy and birthing.

Birth is controlled by the natural flow of our hormones. It’s a perfectly orchestrated process for MotherBaby. As Valeriana says in our webinar below “it’s a perfectly choreographed dance with no dress rehearsal.”Watch our special webinar below and learn:Valeriana’s Top 6 books to read in pregnancyWhat’s a birth alter and why would you want to create oneWhy a homebirth supports hormones more than the hospitalWhy the pain of birth is extremely different than an injuryYou too can enjoy the flow of hormones at birth, as one of Valerian’s client’s said “hormones at birth made me feel like I was in an altered state, a lot like a dream. It allowed me to let go and just be with the experience. It took me out of my head, and put me into my body, I knew exactly what to do.”

“He saw the baby’s head come out, the baby sliding out and this time he was able to catch the baby! They then put her on my back to get some skin to skin. Daniel loved the experience and thought it was the best birth ever!”​

About two and half years into my nursing career, I cared for a woman who changed the trajectory of what birth meant to me. She laughed her way through labor, made out with her husband between contractions, and was supported by her mother. This woman labored during a night shift, so the on-call OBGYN was asleep. It was just this woman, her husband, her mother and I, all working together to bring her baby into the world safely. Wow, what an incredible thing to be a part of! About two weeks after I helped this woman deliver her baby earthside, I applied to a Certified Nurse Midwifery Program. I am so pleased to say that I begin classes this April. As I go forth in my career, I carry the stories of many birthing people who were mistreated, just like my mom. In the United States, where intervention and cesarean rates have skyrocketed, I feel called to leave a positive mark in the birthing community, no matter how small.

I know it is hard to believe but YES, I got an ORGASMIC BIRTH! I literally DANCED my baby down! People around me know that I am passionate about birth and pregnancy, and since I found out about orgasmic birth I was preparing myself to get one! I mean, who wouldn’t want to get waves of pleasure instead of waves of pain during childbirth?

Expanding your sexuality, extreme sports, locking the door and a toothbrush for pleasure…

That’s just a taste of what Julie Bonapace and I chatted about on our webinar! It was so special connecting with my dear friend and together sharing ways to overcome fear and the pain that is created by it – in birth and in life.

It was in that class that I was first introduced to the book Orgasmic Birth.
I remember the whole class snickered at first at the concept that birth could be orgasmic, but I admit my ears perked up. I was already frustrated by how medicalized birth had become in the US but I had been so programmed that birth was painful and dangerous. This was the start of beginning to unlearn, or deprogram from that mindset.

If birth were treated as the intimate experience that it is – so much would change!

There is something so special being with Angelika, my host at Elysia Red Tent when we facilitate Doula circles. We are sisters on a journey Singing now as one Remembering the ancient ones The women and the wisdom We are … Continued

What does a parent need postpartum? Information shared by Dr. Alessandra Bortolotti at a recent Postpartum Doula Workshop To be heard Trust Relationship Relaxation Intimacy: Sensuality – Connection Respect Consideration Protection Nourishment Nurturing To be accepted Rest What does a baby … Continued

It was almost a year ago that I marched on Washington for the Women’s March. What a year it has been since that powerful and transformative day. Since then the #MeToo Campaign began – with women from around the world … Continued

International Week of Respecting Childbirth (IWRC) May 17 – 24 is about speaking up and speaking out about all that is possible in childbirth so that we have more choices, receive more respect and are creating positive birth experiences and … Continued