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Dr. Mercola
March 13 2008
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Pioneering Midwife Touts "Orgasmic Birth"

birth, natural, mom, babyA generation of women looking for a natural, more empowered alternative to traditional hospital births are drawn to Ina May Gaskin, a 69-year-old midwife who is currently making a film called “The Orgasmic Birth.”

According to Gaskin, women can experience a sort of “birth ecstasy” if done under the right conditions. Though Gaskin has no formal nursing education, she has been delivering healthy babies for decades, authored several books on the topic, and teaches a class on midwifery at her commune in Tennessee.

Her premise? That a women’s state of mind influences how easy her birth is. She uses an obstetrical technique she learned from the indigenous Mayans of Guatemala (which has also been published in medical textbooks), and practices alternative strategies such as encouraging women to make out with their husbands during labor.

Gaskin is so adamant about sharing natural childbirth with today’s generation of women, largely because of the concerning rise in Caesarean section births and drugs used to induce labor.

Gaskin believes the rising maternal death rate in the United States (which has more than doubled since 1998) is a direct result of these medical practices, and believes natural childbirth is the safer option.

Dr. Mercola Dr. Mercola's Comments:
Ina Gaskin is well-known among midwives and natural birth specialists as the developer of the “Gaskin Maneuver.” This is an obstetrical maneuver (the first ever to be named after a midwife) that involves a woman moving onto her hands and knees during a difficult labor. Gaskin introduced the technique in 1976, after learning it from a Belizean midwife, who had learned it from Mayan midwives.

It was published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine in 1998 -- where it was praised for being a “rapid, safe and effective technique.”

Unfortunately, in the United States childbirth has been turned into a highly medical procedure, when often traditional methods still work best.

Gaskin is also often credited as helping to trigger the rebirth of midwifery in the United States. While only 4 percent of women gave birth with a midwife in 1990, 8 percent of women chose a midwife in 2003, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Yet, at the same time, the U.S. caesarean section rate is very high at 31 percent (even The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists admits this is worrisome). In some cases, of course, a cesarean section can save lives. But in many others, it is far from the best childbirth option.

While I don’t have the numbers on this, I suspect that a large part of this growing rate has to do not with medical necessity but with convenience and doctors’ fears of liability (of not performing a caesarean, especially if someone requests it). Yet, it’s well known that planned caesarean sections (which have been becoming increasingly trendy among celebrities) are not the safest option.

One study last year in the British Medical Journal even found that a woman’s risk of death during delivery is three to five times higher during caesarean than a natural delivery, her risk of hysterectomy four times higher, and her risk of being admitted to intensive care is two times higher.

Ultimately, of course, the choice is yours, but know this: There is not a single report in the scientific literature that shows obstetricians (specially trained surgeons) to be safer than midwives for low risk or normal pregnancy and birth.

So if you are among the more than 75 percent of all women with a normal pregnancy, the safest birth attendant for you is in fact not a doctor but a midwife or doula.

There are many excellent resources out there for anyone who is planning a natural childbirth, and here are some to get you started.

Education resources:
Home birth resources:
  • The Home Birth Advantage by Dr. Mayer Eisenstein
  • Homefirst Health Services
  • www.elvovemd.com
  • Check the yellow pages or do a google search for home birth providers in your area
How to find a midwife, doula, or birth attendant:
Waterbirth resources:
Emotional resources:
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Community Comments ( 102 )
 		Comment on this Article
  
  
Islander
 [ Joined on 03/07 ] [ Posted on February 26, 2008 ]
14 Points        
   
 
Moderator User
I am THRILLED to see a validation of what I have been claiming for 40 years!

My first was born at home but alas! had to be a forceps delivery because the kid was turned the wrong way. (She's been stubborn ever since, too!) The other 3 were hospital births but all were completely natural. The 10-lb. boy was a lot of work, but the other two slid out with hardly any effort at all, really.

Some women compare the final stage of labor to having a big bowel movement, but I don't think that's at all accurate. Your uterus is definitely pushing its cargo out, and you have to help, using muscles you never knew you had. This part is not painful! In fact, it feels more like a giant orgasm, exactly as Gaskin says. The feel of that baby making its way through the pipes is a lifetime high. It's ecstatic. You're working hard, but laughing and crying at the same time! Sorry, men, but there is absolutely nothing in your experience to compare it to. I tell you what, I would have had a dozen babies just for that glorious moment of peak experience...except that I didn't want to raise a dozen!

I can't say enough in praise of natural childbirth. After all, that's the way it's supposed to be. No woman would opt for a C-section if she had the remotest idea what she would be missing! I say this as a professional woman who is not "supposed" to find this sort of stuff fulfilling.

A must-read book for the expectant mother is Grantly Dick-Read's Childbirth Without Fear. It's an oldie but nothing published in the intervening years is a better explanation of what to expect and how to have a painless, joyful, orgasmic delivery.
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
LaurenBW
 [ Joined on 06/07 ]  [ Posted on March 13, 2008]
19 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Please keep in mind, childbirth is different for every woman.  Just because your experience involved, "hardly any effort at all," does not mean that other woman are exaggerating when they relate different feelings than what you had.  I've had three completely natural homebirths, and I wouldn't have it any other way - homebirth is beautiful.  But that doesn't change the fact that each was tremendously, indescribably painful.  Each of my sweet babies has been worth all the effort, no doubt!  But pushing them out was difficult and not something I would compare at ALL to an orgasm.  I've spent many hours practicing childbirth hypnosis to eliminate pain during childbirth, but it did not seem to affect it at all.  Anyway, just wanted to set the record straight on that one.   :o)   By the way, though, Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way is the best book for anyone to read who plans to have a natural birth!
Mercola
  
Blackberry Blossom Farmer
 [ Joined on 11/07 ]  [ Posted on March 13, 2008]
3 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Absolutely Islander. Enough can't be said for Natural Childbirth... midwifery, doulas, waterbirth, homebirth, and the Bradley Method, all of which I studied and used with my children's births. I also read Spiritual Midwifery, and as a poster below mentioned, the language was rather "raw", but it was an interesting but enjoyably helpful read and several techniques helped my labor progress. I did a lot of squatting exercises preparing for birth & that really came in handy.  When reading SM though, I kept having this urge to put on my gauze Gunne Sax dress, leather headband and hold up my fingers in a peace sign.:)

So pleased to see Dr. Mercola put this article on his site, it certainly fits the health revolution he spends his life advocating.
Mercola
  
kanezishah
 [ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on March 13, 2008]
3 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Absolutely agree!  I'm so happy for women who can actually enjoy childbirth, but all the resources I read, calming techniques I used, and encouragement from my husband and midwives did little to relieve the terrible pain.  I plan on continuing to have my children naturally, but as a friend described it, both times it was a "hellish experience."
Mercola
  
Musica
 [ Joined on 06/07 ]  [ Posted on March 13, 2008]
1 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Islander, I knew I'd find you here, you mentioned this before and I knew it had to be true. I think you're a very gifted person. I can learn a lot from you.

I had two hospital births, I didn't know what was happening to me for the first one, then it was different for the second one in that I read a lot in preparation. I moaned a lot before my second baby came out, then one of my midwives told me to stop moaning and concentrate on pushing. Guess what - that worked! I could call what I felt "pain", but no though, it was something else...
Mercola
  
Kathrynhypnotist
 [ Joined on 03/08 ]  [ Posted on March 27, 2008]
       
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Islander, you felt birth was "a lifetime high" and "ecstatic".

When I birthed my daughter in 1969, after only 4 hours of labor, it was the most transcendent experience of my life. I felt like I was connected to all of the atoms in the entire cosmos. It was the most divine feeling, far beyond orgasmic. I was one-with-the-creative-life-force-energy of the universe. This feeling/memory is instantly accessible to me, still.

Today, as a HypnoBirthing educator, my goal is to help women experience birth as spiritual and empowering and, yes, transcendent and ecstatic.

Kathryn McGlynn
  
  
samurai
 [ Joined on 04/07 ] [ Posted on February 26, 2008 ]
11 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
Uh.  Right.  Now I have seen everything.  While my va-jay-jay (as Oprah calls it)  was being ripped to shreds during natural childbirth, I don't quite recall having an orgasm.
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
SpartyOn
 [ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on March 13, 2008]
8 Points        
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola

And hearing natural birth being described as "orgasmic" only makes it sound so wacky that moms might dismiss the natural way altogether.
Mercola
  
dccdmom
 [ Joined on 08/07 ]  [ Posted on March 14, 2008]
1 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

I've had 5 children with births ranging from a hospital delivery with a vacuum extraction to an unassisted homebirth and I wouldn't use the word orgasmic for any of my births. Natural childbirth IS incredibly empowering though. I had a lot of pain, but an incredible amount of euphoria after my natural births that just wasn't there with my interventative ones.
  
  
New to Natural
 [ Joined on 11/07 ] [ Posted on February 27, 2008 ]
10 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
I wish more doctors and nurses would take the stance of "letting mother nature take it's course." 

My birthing experience was awful:  My water didn't break, but started leaking, so the doc said to go to labor and delivery.  I was having no contractions, so after being there for 3 hours they put me on pitocin.   I refused, but was told there wasn't a choice.  Well, after 18 hours of pure h***, I succumbed to the epidural.  I hear natural labor gives you a small break between contractions.  Pitocin gives no break and it's nothing but constant sharp pain.  I continued with labor for another 5 hours, then pushed for 3 hours - the kid was stuck, I was exhausted.  After being in labor for 26 hours, the doc did an emergency c-section. 

From the experience I developed "septic-pelvic-thromboflibitis" and an "illeus"  I required an NG tube for the illeus and blood thinners for the other.  I spent 8 frustrating days in the hospital, having 3 shifts of nurses who never wrote anything down for the others to read.  I told them I wanted to breastfeed (never did produce anything anyways) but they kept giving her formula.  One would say to "finger feed" the other would just give her the bottle.  Let me tell you, it's frustrating trying to nurse a child for the first time with someone else's hands in there! 

This was my experience - and hosestly, I would go through it again for my daughter, however in hindsight, I definitely should have stayed home until contractions started.  We have such a happy, healthy kid and I love her to pieces!  We are eventually planning on having another one, but have had to wait two years for complete healing first. 

This was my experience - after dealing with "modern medicine" I now trust nature instead. 
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
New to Natural
 [ Joined on 11/07 ]  [ Posted on February 27, 2008]
2 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
My thoughts exactly! 

If I knew what I know now, I would've told them to "shove it" and gone home  :-) 

It's too bad that we had to endure what we did, but it's nice to know there are others out there with a "less-than orgasmic" birth to talk to
  
  
Coregon
 [ Joined on 10/07 ] [ Posted on March 13, 2008 ]
8 Points        
   
 
Novice User

The one thing no one mentions here is preparing for childbirth.  I'm not talking about birthing classes that teach you proper breathing and focus for labor to reduce pain.  I'm talking about preparing the body for birth, like you would prepare your body to run a marathon.  Giving birth is one of the most strenuous things you will ever do.  You cannot expect to live a sedentary lifestyle for 9 months and then sail through your labor effortlessly.  Your body must be in peak physical condition for birth.  Women used to work in the fields up until the time they went into labor.  Our society today as a rule is not physically fit.   During my first pregnancy I had my husband drop me off at the bottom of our hill  every day of my pregnancy and I walked home..uphill everyday. (with concerned neighbors asking if I needed a ride :)   I swam daily also.  I won't say I had no labor pains, but I did have a smooth birth for a first birth and put on my jeans, zipped them up and went home 2 days later, feeling well enough to go shopping a day later.  What a difference with my 2nd child.  I didn't gain too much weight, but I also didn't get ANY exercise, nor was my diet good.  I had a labor from hell...27 hours of excruciating labor, with little or no progress, after my water broke.  They talked of c-section, but the doctor was not available.  By the time my daughter was born, we both looked like we had been beat up..and felt like it too.  The bonding process was made difficult by my memories of that horrific birth process.  My baby cried non-stop for a month until  a chiropractor adjusted her neck and spine. (she slept 10 hours after her adjustment..before that only 2 hours max..(who says babies don't feel the pain of childbirth too?)    I truly feel that being in shape makes all the difference. Being out of shape could be the reason for most of our non-emergency c-sections.  You don't need a health club, just walk, take the stairs, get up and move. Do it for you and your baby.

 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
jfrenchie99
 [ Joined on 03/07 ]  [ Posted on March 13, 2008]
       
   
Novice User
  Mercola

I couldn't agree with you more!!! I too ate really good and hiked the hills every day and had a smooth and fast delivery, and bounced back quickly.

  
  
Debrah
 [ Joined on 11/06 ] [ Posted on February 29, 2008 ]
7 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
It depends on what part of the labor one is talking about-- the first stage is painful ( I read Spiritual Midwifery and was NOT expecting pain so thought something was drastically wrong when it was very painful with my first). It was bearable though once the midwife explained that everything was going as it should! The transition stage is horrible and when many women want to give up and go for intervention but it is a very short time and with support you can make it through. But the pushing stage is very satisfying--I would not say orgasmic(LOL!) though I have talked to women who have had that experience. It was a great experience--though took too long with my first and I became very exhausted by the end. My second daughter was completely different--I thought I was having practice contractions but it was the real thing and she came in 2 pushes which was way too intense as I felt like I was ripping in two and the third was also completely different--much more like was described in Gaskins book. Of course if there are complications or intervention that will increase the pain so each birth has to be treated differently. It is very important to note that according to the meticulous records kept by The Farm only about 2% of births required C section and 5% for other interventions( It has been a long time since I read it so I may  be off on those percents). C sections are up to 35 % in some areas!!! And interventions happen in almost all hospital births! Those 5 % may have been the ones who would have died in the past and modern medicine is life saving for them but for the rest problems are iatrogenic!
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
SpartyOn
 [ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on March 13, 2008]
3 Points        
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola

I loved the pushing part! (all three times)
  
  
MountainLamb_203
 [ Joined on 01/08 ] [ Posted on February 29, 2008 ]
7 Points