Not as New-Age kooky as it sounds —childbirth can be orgasmic

Everyone knows that childbirth can hurt. A lot. The jokes about pushing a watermelon out a hole the size of a grape and of women crying for that sweet, sweet epidural are so cliché that they stopped being funny decades ago. But, what if childbirth didn’t have to be painful? Could the experience of getting the baby out be as pleasurable as the experience of getting it in there in the first place?

Orgasmic Birth, a documentary by filmmaker and birthing expert Debra Pascali-Bonaro that screened March 15 at the Plaza explores the notion that delivering a baby can not only be a pleasant experience, but that it can actually be sensual. The concept isn’t as creepy as it sounds — no one is saying that women should be having a sexy porno-style climax as their children draw their first breaths. Rather, the premise of the film is that birthing a baby can be an intense and intimate process and that because the hormones released during childbirth are similar to those that come with sex, the mother can feel euphoric and, if you stretch the definition far enough, orgasmic.

Laid bare (especially when illustrated in the film by several fairly normal couples), the whole thing seems pretty logical: if women are given a chance to relax during labour (something that can be difficult in a hospital), they can relax, feel less self-conscious and have a happy birth. Culturally, though, the problem that faces the natural birthing movement is a sense of hippie self-righteousness that turns many women off the idea of home or drug-free birthing or makes them feel like failures if they do think they need medical reassurance. While Orgasmic Birth does have its share of smug experts, anti-hospital scare tactics and New Age kooks (one woman enjoys her orgasmic labour in a tub while her husband beats on a large drum), the filmmaker does try to offer some more moderate opinions and balance. This sentiment was echoed by many of the panelists who spoke after the film’s screening: it is important for new moms to make choices that best suit them, but to keep their minds open.

With Alberta Health Care finally beginning to fund midwifery beginning next month, women in Alberta will have more options for both home and hospital births (provided that they can find a midwife now that demand is much higher). Undoubtedly, the most important step for first-time moms is to educate themselves — a quick Internet search or a chat with one of the city’s thousands of new moms (we are in the middle of a city-wide baby boom, you know) will reveal a network of doulas, holistic practitioners, birthing centres and other resources. They may not be able to promise a full-on orgasm, but they can make junior’s arrival a little less terrifying.