Orgasmic Birth? 0.3 Percent of Women Experience Ecstasy During Delivery

Incredible pain is often associated with giving birth. However, for some mothers, the very act of giving birth can also be a pleasurable experience as well.

In fact, some women can actually orgasm during birth. A study carried out by psychologist Thierry Postel from Blainville-sur-Mer, France, shows that even with an epidural, which is commonly used to help decrease labor pains, a very small percentage of women experience an incredible feeling during delivery.

Postel contacted 956 French midwives and interviewed them about their experiences during the birthing process. He specifically asked about these orgasmic births called ecstatic births.

The answers of 109 midwives who lent a hand during the births of over 206,000 babies throughout their careers showed that 668 cases experienced orgasmic births. The midwives also reported around 868 cases where they saw the mother exhibiting signs of ecstasy while giving birth.

Postel said he made the decision to focus on midwives as opposed to doctors and nurses because he believed that midwives have a more personal experience to the birthing process.

Despite the findings, Postel believes that these numbers are still underrepresented as admitting these experiences can be rather embarrassing. However, based on the available data, only 0.3 percent of women had an ecstatic birth, a rate, which is very low.

Barry Komisaruk, a professor of psychology at Rutgers University in New Jersey, also said that that when looking at the anatomy, this makes sense. "It's stimulation of the birth canal, stimulation of the cervix, the vagina and the clitoris and uterine contractions," she said, via Live Science. "A lot of women say during sexual orgasms uterine contractions feel pleasurable."

The findings were published in the journal Sexologies.