Why It Is Important To Masturbate During Labour -Mother Explains

Angela Gallo was in the grips of labour.

Contractions surged through her body and she felt 'fragile, helpless and overwhelmed' - but in that moment, she decided to masturbate.

While many would be shocked by this, Mrs Gallo insists that 'clitoral stimulation' worked as a natural pain relief and made the transition stage of childbirth more manageable.

While it is not uncommon for women to orgasm during childbirth, having an orgasm during labour as a non-sexual form of pain relief is a taboo topic rarely spoken about.

30 year old Mrs Gallo told Daily Mail that is one of the reasons she chose to share her story.

'Something I'm particularly passionate about is choices in childbirth,' she said. Women in mainstream birth cultures were limited with their pain relief options - with an epidural, gas or nothing at all being the main choices.

Mrs Gallo described her first birth as 'highly medicalised' and she underwent an epidural that left her feeling out of control of her body.

In her second labour, through masturbation she was able to have a birth free of medical interventions. It lasted for six hours as compared to her first labour which went for 45 hours.

She describes masturbation during childbirth:

"They were intense, yes. But the wildness of them felt ... electric. Sensual. Powerful. I remember one moment very vividly. As I neared transition (9-10 cm), I felt incredibly fragile, hopeless, and overwhelmed. (Transition can be such a fickle b***h!) 

Masturbation made the MOST sense to me as I labored through my surges. I remember my husband saying, 'Would you like to have sex?' And although I couldn't commit to sex in the moment, he must have read my mind! 

Clitoral stimulation worked an absolute TREAT. It shifted my focus to my vagina, to the energy brewing within me. It made me feel connected, and made me feel like I had some control over what I was feeling. 

The surges were much more manageable, and the rest between them was so much more enjoyable. If I close my eyes now, I am taken back to that place. The hot water on my back, my husband's hands locked in mine, the safety of his presence, the happiness as I rode those wild waves."  

Nipple, vaginal, clitoral stimulation, kissing, intimacy, affection; these all inspire the flow of our hormonal allies (oxcytocin, endorphin and adrenaline) in birth, according to Mrs Gallo.