A 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.