Apr 6, 2020
I’m feeling a bit Dr Ruth here, but Yes, I really do. I’m talking about the female orgasm how orgasm affects fertility and why I prescribe them, here and yes I do prescribe them, well certainly recommend them.
And this is one of those episodes where thoughts and feelings may come up based on what I’m saying and these thoughts and feelings may be key.
So what I want you to do, which forms part of my coaching process is to just stop for a moment and gather the thoughts and feelings going around in your head as I talk about this. What are you thinking as I say this?
What are the feelings associated, because these are important.
We cannot separate the physical from the emotional and when it comes to you being given information about your fertility, yet more information about your fertility this could trigger a response and this response is important
First of all what I am not saying here is in order to get pregnant you have to be able to orgasm during sex, what I will be doing is discuss some areas around this topic, namely
Now an important point to mention here is that a female orgasm can be achieved in a number of ways
It is reported that Between thirty and forty percent of women claim never to have experienced an orgasm through vaginal penetration alone – though many more can orgasm through clitoral stimulation.
And of course clitoral stimulation this done to you or by you,
Perhaps you’ve never had an orgasm, perhaps you dont have them anymore, things change, perhaps you don’t want one, perhaps quite frankly you just haven’t got the time or the energy.
perhaps you don’t want to orgasm, and that’s important to explore
But what I wanted to explore was whether the female orgasm is important for fertility?
Well years ago a phenonamon called the up-suck, yes, nice term right? was coined. It was based on a theory that the contractions of the uterus help "suck up" the semen that gets deposited in the vagina, near to the cervix and stated that the orgasm then helps to move the sperm through the uterus and onwards to their journey into and along the fallopian tubes, makes sense right?
One study actually measured the amount of semen "flowback" (how much semen leaked out after sex.) and they discovered that when a female orgasm occurred a minute or before male ejaculation, sperm retention was greater. No pressure there then?
But what if orgasm happened after male ejaculation? Which might be more of the norm for you? Researchers found that as long as the woman has an orgasm up to 45 minutes after, sperm retention was higher.
The link as to whether this affects pregnancy success were not explored. So we cannot say from this that it correlates directly with fertility, but we can say that less sperm leaves the vagina, Now of course it is only at certain days in a womans cycle that the sperm can actually enter the cervix, and the research does not state whether the woman was in her fertile window
This theory has been questioned by researchers who have stated that it is not essential for pregnancy that an orgasm and its associated upsuck occurs
So the up-suck itself may not be an essential part of actually getting pregnant but. The hormonal release during orgasm is worth exploring further
What is important to note is that during an orgasm your brain is concocting a very potent cocktail of chemicals dopamine, which is associated with anything that feels good, and makes us want more and is such a better feeling than the stress and anxiety about whether it will work
Along with this is oxytocin which is the love hormone that produces feelings of closeness and empathy, its associated with bonding
Endorphins are also released
These are powerful and useful hormones
Another theory is that the female orgasm was once important but through evolutionary changes is no longer essential for getting pregnant. This theory suggested that an orgasm in our ancestors may have actually triggered ovulation, This is how it works in some mammals. For example, with cats apparently if they don't mate, they don't ovulate. And even more fascinating regarding cats is that the clitoris is in the vaginal canal, that sounds a lot simpler and perhaps a much better design doesn’t it?
We know that ovulation today occurs I a cycle, for the majority of women on a monthly cycle or near to it whether or not we have sex. So in earlier humans, could female orgasm have triggered ovulation and why doesn’t it today?
Clitoral stimulation induces feelings of pleasure, along with a release of hormones and muscular contractions. It is thought that these hormones and contractions may have in fact signalled the ovaries to release an egg in ancestral humans
The theory goes on to explain that as we humans evolved, and ovulation began to occur regularly, without sexual stimulation, the clitoris moved further away from the vaginal canal.
This doesn't mean female orgasm has no purpose in conception, but it does imply its significance perhaps decreased in relation to ovulation
I have talked before about how negative emotions, fear, from your modern day tigers such as stress, and anxiety can reduce your chances of getting pregnant, via hormonal imbalance, hormonal diversion, muscle tension and so on, so we can see how these wonderous happy hormones I mentioned earlier can perhaps support fertility by reducing the stress, fear etc.
So another thought is that the clitoris is where it is as when a fetus develops it develops from the same basic plumbing and becomes a boy or a girl, and the clitoris is where the penis is and vice versa.
I dont want this to add to the list of things you must do to get pregnant, I don’t want your lack of orgasm to be another factor that you feel you absolutely have to change, another thing to add to the list, further increasing overwhelm worry and stress and yes a new tiger, the orgasm tiger!
What I want us to look at is what happens during orgasm, and how this might benefit you in many ways
At the point of orgasm the muscles of the vagina anus and uterus involuntarily and rhythmically contract and relax, which gives that sense of release
At the same time your brain is concocting that very potent cocktail of happy hormones I mentioned earlier
A study in 2006 showed that a woman hippocampus and amygdala showed decreased function during orgasm and these 2 are big players in fear and anxiety
Helps you stay present, you don’t often get this in mindfulness courses, but the focus needed to reach orgasm, really keeps you be in the present moment, and can in effect perhaps push your stress and thoughts away,
Having an orgasm induces a sleepy feeling so if falling asleep is tricky for you it can improve your sleep quality and we know as discussed before how poor quality sleep can negatively affect fertility
It can actually increase your libido. Now a drop in libido is caused by hormonal imbalance, especially low testosterone, yes females have this too.
Also baby sex in itself can affect your libido and your enjoyment. We know that when we really want to have sex, our bodies are ready, we really want to, and this makes a big difference, so wanting rather than having to is key, and if the more orgasms you have the more your libido increases, that must be a good thing if
It can increase your interest in sex
Your pelvic floor is getting a work out too and your bottom and inner thighs
Your blood flow to the vagina and pelvic organs is increased, which is hugely important, vaginal lubrication is increased,
During ovulation orgasm can be more intensely felt because of the increased blood flow to the pelvic area.
Now you may not feel that his is something you would really want to do, but it can help with menstrual cramp relief and also headaches, where we come back to the endorphins which are both just stress releivers they are also pain killers
There is also a suggestion in some research that it can temporarily improve your immune system, an increased level of certain types of lymphocytes (white blood cells that help your immune system fend off illness) was noted after masturbation and orgasm in a study
So whether it is during intercourse or masturbation, I recommend that you increase the orgasms you are having, maybe this can be added to your self care regime
Between thirty and forty percent of women claim never to have experienced an orgasm through vaginal penetration alone – though many more can orgasm through clitoral stimulation.
And this is one of the questions I ask my clients in our initial consultation is whether they can achieve orgasm
I then ask whether that via penetrative or external stimulation or both?
I also ask if they have ever experienced an injury to their coccyx, tailbone, because an impact on the pudendal nerve is a significant consideration
Fertility massage therapy addresses this as part of the therapy, and this is something that I have been able to help my clients in address themselves also, without having to see me which is key in these times of isolation and not being able to see a therapist
There are a wide range of psychological aspects that can affect a womans ability to orgasm also, and this is too big a subject to explore here and now, but it is something that may be relevant for me to explore when working with a client.
What I suggest you do is return to. The thoughts and feelings that came up for you if any during this episode, and if you want to know more or its highlighted an area that you may want to look further into, drop me a line
So, that is why I prescribe orgasm and regular orgasms,