Orgasm during childbirth?! Tell me this is a lie!!

[kitegirl]

A friend of mine has a very competitive MIL. This friend has just given birth to her first, a nightmare labour with every possible intervention you could imagine (she's cool about it, bless her). Her MIL won't stop going on how amazing all her births were, saying how she just 'breathed the babies out' and how all her births were such ecstatic, spiritual experiences that she actually had an orgasm during each one!

Now I know a birth can be enjoyable, but an orgasm??? I've never heard this happening. Is this a case of one-upmanship? I told my friend that there's only one place to find out and that's Mumsnet... so what do you think?

honestly, moondog, I do think you have the wrong end of the stick here. I am not sure what has "keeping it private" to do with it?

(oh you're right about the apostrophe btw. Must Do Better.)

having a midwife (mitt wif, with woman, the person that the woman chooses to help her through her labour and childbirth) present during childbirth is NOT sharing with all and sundry is it.

you choosing to keep whatever you wish private is entirely and completely your business and does not make you anything. it is you that is being judgemental of other women not the other way round.

Well there are two camps here.

One finds it completely bizarre that any sexual thought could be entering one's head at this time (and you know there is statistically a high proportion of beardy weirdies involved in this stuff)and is having a bit of laugh about it all.

The other (lentil weavers mainly) have had a complete sense of humour bypass about the whole thing .

As for my 'keeping it private' comment well,I am the woman who read the Daily Telegraph in the birthing pool.
Never very good at letting it all hang out although I do of course have post graduate diploma (distinction) in lentil weaving.

I am missing something here. moondog, what exactly are you annoyed about??

i guess what i fail miserably to find humourous is the implication that women are somehow perverse, debasing of something that is innocent and pure and just plain weirdoes for experiencing childbirth in a way that involves sexual arousal. i find that an extremely unfunny way of looking at it yes.

i think there are a lot of quite sinister implications to a statement that separates sex and innocence and sexuality and childbirth as if they are diametrically opposed.

Moi??
I'm not annoyed about anything!
There have been some very funny comments here,whatever your bent.

pmsl pruni. not at your expense moondog but at the fact that pruni keeps popping her head in and saying things in that way....

I can't see anyone thinking "Oh, thank goodness labour's started, I'd been wanting a quick bean-flick and hadn't had the urge till now", but I can totally understand the sensation of giving birth being pleasurable.

I can't understand why it freaks some of you out so much though, but then I'm so open-minded I have to replace my brain some days

ah sophable thank goodness you're here
What Sophable said.
Not v funny.
I exempt MI from opprobrium (sp?) because she was joking I think

Sophable,as someone else has already pointed out however,if men wanted to 'embrace their sexuality' at a physically testing time (I know there are no exact parallels)it would be considered rather odd,but because it is a woman,oh well,that's different!!

Orgasm away.
Whatever gets you through it.
But don't be surprised or assume that people are repressed or betrayers of their sex if they find it a bit strange!

You're not open minded about HVs Hunker.
No sirrrrreeeeeeeee

see moondog this is what I don't understand - NOONE has said anyone is repressed or unsisterly or whatever for NOT getting this concept.
but there has been some pretty visceral repulsion in the other direction.
I find it a tiny bit disturbing.
Everyone leaping on that "midwives being begged to give you a wank" stuff. IT just reminded me of those tabloid stories, as I said. Like people wanted to believe it.

Harpsi,people are just having a laugh!!!!

Not mentalist HVs no, MD. But I don't think I should be either

I just find it odd that people are ascribing any kind of suspicious motives at all to something that involves pressure on the clitoris and vagina and is surely statistically bound to cause one woman in every, oooh, three million to have something like an orgasm. Get over it.

Re negative comments in other direction,whatever your beliefs or feelings,I think that it is fair to say that the majority of the population would find this a pretty far out idea.
The minority wouldn't.

Thus,you are obviously going to get plenty of 'wtf?' comments.

But, Pruni, sex is dirty and women aren't meant to enjoy it

oh come off it moondog, have you read the thread??
like sophable says there was a lot of stuff early on about how it was demeaning and debasing and all that

omg hunker did you say lust? how jolly inappropriate.

Incidentally have any of you read Spiritual Midwifery? It's chock full of this sort of thing.

oh it's not the people going OMG!!! that I mind. Fair do's . It IS an odd idea.
But just because it is something you don't understand or haven't experienced doesn't make it odd and perverse.
I mean I have never tried quilting but apparently it fries some people's onions

Ina May thingy isn't it.

Why is it all seen as such a huge threat?

(BTW I am now being reckless in my apostrophe use )

moondog, you may only be going wtf, far out, and you may be having a laugh. but there have been people that certainly haven't been on this thread.

you're just worried about your cheif lentil weaving status....

Just checked thread over again Harpsi.
Nope,can't find anything too offensive in there.