This woman felt so safe

This story is from a midwife’s point of view. Don’t birthing women teach us so very much? I was attending a delivery for a client at the Bryn Mawr Birth Center a few years ago when I had the following experience.

I was with a woman who was deeply involved in pushing out her baby. I began some simple perineal support with warm cloths when she directed my hand to her clitoris and said, “Please, just do it like this.” She had me rubbing my hand back and forth, very much like one would for an orgasm. She kept saying, “Yes, just like that.” I kept up my support and at one point looked up at the nurse who was assisting. Her eyes were big as saucers and she looked at me as if to say, “What in the world are you doing?” I just smiled and kept up my support. It was really quite comical, but at the same time so wonderful that this woman felt so safe and so at home with us that she could have me assist her in the best way possible for her to deliver her child. Afterward she felt so good about her birth experience. The nurse was skeptical and all I could think of was how grateful I am for my '70's homebirth roots and my ability to follow a birthing woman's lead. Truly, this was an orgasmic birth.

Gazelle Lange, LM, CNM
Collegeville, PA