The Problem with "Orgasmic Birth"

re: The Problem with "Orgasmic Birth"

Joanie — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:47:17 GMT

I just remember a friend of mine lecturing me, as she was 7 months pregnant, on how orgasmic birth was this thing the "medical establishment" wouldn't tell you about. Everybody was hiding how pleasurable and intimate childbirth should really be if done right.

She labored for nearly 48 hours at home and finally had to call medics to help her deliver her gigantic baby. She could have died. I was ultimately able to bite my tongue from asking if she had an orgasm.

I think it's fine to remind people that childbirth pain doesn't need to be equated with broken limbs or severe burns -- fine, fine. But to get people expecting a transcendent sexual experience? Come on. Enough already!

re: The Problem with "Orgasmic Birth"

Hamilton Doula — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:39:19 GMT

I think the filmmaker should have used a different title for this film. Because I don't believe she ever meant to convey that orgasm in labour is possible for all, many or even some women. I think she recognizes that the phenomena is pretty darned rare (but not necessarily as rare as you might think).

I believe she intended for orgasmic birth to be a metaphoric approach to the birthing experience where there is intimacy, calmness and joy.

So, yeah, the idea that an orgasmic birth is the ideal we all should strive for via natural birthing practices is kinda dippy and misleading. It sure would be nice if it could be so once you extracted all the modern maternity rigmarole that so often hinders physiologically efficient labour and birth but birth just isn't like that for the vast majority of women no matter how much they are ready to groove through their labours.

re: The Problem with "Orgasmic Birth"

Lucy — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:46:31 GMT

I am okay with talking about it but calling it "orgasmic" is just weird to me. Even though sex is involved in most of the conceptions today, the delivery is not sexy at all. I mean there's blood, poop, tearing, etc. That said, there might be people that orgasm from sex that involves those things too but is it something that needs to be talked about on 20/20? Even though birth itself is a miracle, I doubt that while my husband was down while I was pushing thought, "Man, I would so want to hit that."

re: The Problem with "Orgasmic Birth"

eringremlin — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:20:47 GMT

Hehe- If the noises I made during labor were the ones I made when orgasming, I don't think my husband could make it through one scrumping sesh without either laughing or running away horrified. Just saying.

re: The Problem with "Orgasmic Birth"

Tara Pringle Jefferson — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 16:59:15 GMT

I just wrote a post about this documentary on my blog.

My main problem (which is much like yours) is that it sort of makes women feel like failures if they're not able to experience this. My labor was horrific. With an overdue baby and low amniotic fluid, I was induced after she was two weeks late.

I had no break between contractions. Those suckers hurt. And they just kept coming. No relief for six hours. Just constant, constant contractions. I certainly wasn't thinking about anything pleasurable, and for me to have had an orgasm at that point would have been insane.

But good luck to them. Really.

Tara

http://theyoungmommylife.com

re: The Problem with "Orgasmic Birth"

Bean's Dad — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 16:52:24 GMT

An old friend of mine had an orgasm once when she ate a McDonalds apple pie. People can get orgasms from all kinds of crazy things. I used to get them from climbing trees. I think documentaries about these phenomena would be silly, and I feel the same about orgasmic birth. In either of the examples I gave, one realizes that the orgasm was just a quirk of human physiology; Orgasmic Climbing, Orgasmic McDonalds Dining are not soon to be in 20/20. But throw in the word "birth" and suddenly the experience approaches the mystical.