Talk:Clitoris

Function: Labour and Childbirth

The sexuality of childbirth is not well recognised in Western society despite it being common knowledge that women give birth through their sexual organs (the cervix, vagina, labia, and clitoral complex) and despite research showing that some women experience orgasm(s) during labor and childbirth. For example, 21% of women surveyed by midwife Ina May Gaskin had experienced at least one orgasmic birth (1), while a study carried out in France also reported on women experiencing orgasm during birth.

Margaret Jowitt, a childbirth educator, member of the Association of Radical Midwives (ARM) and editor of its magazine Midwifery Matters from 1996 until 2013, has written about the role of the clitoris in childbirth in the journal Midwifery Today (3): “One can’t blame the scientists for failing to see a role for the clitoris in birth. For most of the twentieth century, the internal parts of the clitoris were edited out of the anatomy books, leaving only the external “button.” Virtually all birth images show women propped up on their backs to give birth: the clitoris on the outside of the body was surely too far away to have any involvement in birth.” Studies including those by Australian urologist Helen O’Connell have now revealed the complex anatomy of the clitoris and showed that it is largely composed of internal parts. In her article, Jowitt answered the question “what does this have to do with birth?”: during labour, as the baby’s head descends into the inlet of the pelvis, the baby rotates to face the sacrum. Jowitt writes: “The back of the head therefore travels down the inner aspect of the maternal symphysis pubis. The fetus moves down and when he reaches the pelvic floor, he extends his head to emerge under the pubic arch. The extending head traversing the lower edge of the symphysis pubis will exert pressure on the internal clitoris. The fetal head pivots when the neck reaches the pubic arch; the pivoting of the fetal head enables the large-headed human baby to compensate for the bend in the human birth canal. Stimulation of the large neurovascular bundle of the clitoris triggers the Ferguson reflex, which sends pulsed floods of pituitary oxytocin to the uterus. Mothers don’t need to use voluntary muscles to push their baby out; their uterus can do it for them.” She continues: “A better-known consequence of stimulating the clitoris is engorgement of the vestibular bulbs around the vagina. The crura lining the pelvic arch also become engorged. These cushions of blood may function to protect the back of the baby’s head as he is being born—particularly if the mother is in a forward-leaning position. In a nutshell, the baby does the stimulation from the inside with the back of his head when he’s traveled far enough down the birth canal. He will be stimulating the body of the clitoris through the urethra where the clitoris divides to form the crura. This is the legendary G spot. In the right conditions birth is orgasmic.” In her conclusion, she writes:  “The modern way of birth was not designed around female physiology but around the need of obstetricians to see what they are doing. No other mammal gives birth flat on its back with legs in the air, even though all other mammals have straight birth canals. Human birth is complicated by a constricted pelvis, and birth on the obstetric bed adds insult to injury. If the woman is rotated 180 degrees around the axis of her spine onto an all-fours or a forward-leaning position, then the weight of the fetal head will add to the pressure on the internal clitoris, thus allowing the birth reflex to happen and make a larger opening in the pelvic floor.”

Understanding the anatomy of the clitoris also has implications for medical interventions that are routine in some parts of the world, such as episiotomies. A paper by DK Garner et al concluded that for a high (angle ≥45°) mediolateral angle, 100% of cuts impact the bulb of the clitoral vestibule; for the medium (angle 16-44°) mediolateral angle, the bulb was impacted in 80% of cuts, and for the low (angle 10-15°) mediolateral angle, it was 75%. This carries implications for the sexual health and well-being of women who undergo episiotomies. (The midline (angle 0°) does not impact the bulb but has a significantly higher risk of third or fourth degree tearing (which can result in fecal incontinence) after the episiotomy is cut.)

References:

1. Gaskin, Ina May. Ina May’s Guide To Childbirth. London, Vermilion, 2003. p.158. 21% of women she surveyed had experienced at least one orgasmic birth
2. T. Postel, “Naissance et jouissance : mise en évidence de l’existence d’un orgasme obstétrical”. Sexologies, Volume 22, Issue 4, October–December 2013, Pages 165-168

Research carried out in France, in which 109 midwives participated in a survey regarding about 206,000 births they had assisted, found that: 668 mothers experienced orgasmic feelings during labor; 868 mothers showed signs of experiencing pleasure during childbirth; 9 mothers experienced orgasm during birth

1. Jowitt, Margaret. (2019). The Clitoris in Labor. Midwifery Today, Autumn 2018, Issue 127, pp 24-25.
2. Garner DK, Patel AB, Hung J, Castro M, Segev TG, Plochocki JH, Hall MI. Midline and Mediolateral Episiotomy: Risk Assessment Based on Clinical Anatomy. Diagnostics (Basel). 2021 Feb 2;11(2):221. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics11020221. PMID: 33540771; PMCID: PMC7913006. PAM2026 (talk) 14:20, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want made. Please detail the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. ScrubbedFalcon (talk) 23:18, 4 April 2026 (UTC)

In particular, adding anything about "orgasmic birth" would need to follow the WP:MEDRS guideline. Crossroads ^-talk- 19:18, 29 April 2026 (UTC)

Clitoral reproductive functions

Levin R.J. 2018. A new evolutionary interpretation of clitoral function in the fertile years as a proximate mechanism for facilitating female reproductive fitness. Poster Abstract for 44th International Academy of Sex Research meeting, Madrid 2018. Levin R.J. 2020. The clitoris- an appraisal of its reproductive function during the fertile years; why was it,and still is, overlooked in accounts of female sexual arousal. Clinical Anatomy 34:115-121. Levin R.J. 2021. The overlooked reproductive function of the human clitoris. News media responses to the published review. Clinical Anatomy 34:115-121. ~2026-33070-61 (talk) 17:45, 3 June 2026 (UTC)