In this episode, we talk with Elizabeth Davis, midwife, reproductive health care specialist, educator, and consultant. She is also the author of Heart & Hands: A Midwife’s Guide to Pregnancy & Birth (https://elizabethdavis.com/books/). She tells us about her first experiences with birth, including her being present at an unassisted birth, as well as her traumatic experience with her first birth when she went into labor a month early. Because of the premature labor, she reluctantly birthed in a hospital, where she received a lateral episiotomy. She then tells about her second, home birth, whose success and beauty gave her a transformation of her previous experience. Her worries about tearing over her episiotomy scar shifted her focus deeply on her vagina, and as a result her delivery gave her a crescendo of sensation and emotion that she considered an orgasmic birth. Later, she met Debra Pascali-Bonaro who introduced her to the term “orgasmic birth,” and influenced her to write Heart & Hands, which focuses primarily on the physiology of birth. Elizabeth then shares that “orgasmic” in “orgasmic birth” refers to any experience that is ecstatic, transcendent, sensual, and powerful. She explains how the pattern of female orgasm with the highest peak of sensation has plateaus on the way up. She compares this to progress in labor, and how both processes reflect female identity. She shares that even a painful birthing experience can still reach the point of having an orgasmic dimension. We then talk about what women can do to encourage an orgasmic experience at birth. Elizabeth explains how orgasmic birth can lead to healing from emotional, physical, and psychological trauma. We then discuss how unassisted birth relates to orgasmic birth. We talk about the proper roles of midwives birth workers. We then finish with Elizabeth sharing that the coursework she has on her Heart and Hands course is linked to the National Midwifery Institute. To learn more, visit https://elizabethdavis.com. 

• 1:07 Elizabeth’s Story

“[Midwives] really have not gotten out there and said, ‘here’s how we assess dates, here’s how we continue to assess well-being. We can estimate amniotic fluid volume by palpation. We can make note of fetal well-being, not only by mom doing kick counts, but listening with a fetoscope for an extended period of time, and noting good variability and reactivity.”  36:50

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