Pregnancy

Orgasms During Pregnancy Are Freaking Amazing, And We Should Shout It From The Rooftops

by Wendy Wisner
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
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I didn’t love everything about being pregnant. I was sick as a dog during the first trimester. By the third trimester, my stomach was practically in my throat, resulting in the worst heartburn I’d ever had. Plus, my ligaments burned like hell every time I walked down the block, and I’d get these leg cramps that would leave me totally incapacitated for a few hours.

But during those moments that I didn’t feel like my body was being ravaged and destroyed, I enjoyed some of the best orgasms of my life. The best.

I feel like this is something we women don’t talk about nearly enough.

In a way, I totally get it. At first, I found the rush of intense sexual feelings during my pregnancies kind of confusing and disorienting. Here I was growing a human inside me. The whole venture felt quite clinical and scientific (especially when I’d read things like, “This week, your baby’s skeleton will change from soft cartilage to bone.”).

And even when I wasn’t thinking about the fact that my body was home to a Frankenstein-esque science experiment, I was definitely weirded out by the idea of sexy time when there was a baby right there, quite literally in the middle it all.

But it’s almost like our biology intends pregnancy to be a time of heightened sexuality. Blame it on hormones. During pregnancy, you’ve got more estrogen floating around than you’ve ever had. Estrogen increases blood flow to your genitals and uterus, and it also plays a role in granting you your Dolly Parton boobs. In addition, you experience a huge surge in progesterone, which blesses you with glowing skin and a relaxed attitude. Progesterone also helps in the boob-growth department.

However, the hormone that takes the cake in terms of making you a hot, sexy mess is oxytocin, often called “the love hormone.” Oxytocin increases exponentially from the first to last trimester of pregnancy. In addition to making you feel happy and horny, oxytocin is responsible for the contraction and release that happens during an orgasm.

So having more of that good stuff around — along with the increased blood flow to your genitals and uterus — can aid in giving you some of the most intensely satisfying orgasms you’ll ever experience.

I’ve had friends tell me that pregnancy was the first time they had multiple orgasms, and I will say that I personally had orgasms then that made me weep with joy.

Why don’t we women talk about this more? Why aren’t there chapters about this in every pregnancy book, and all over the internet?

I get that it’s taboo in certain ways to mix off-the-charts-sex with gestating a baby, but I think we’re all mature enough to keep the two separate. I know that some women are open about this aspect of pregnancy. But I consider myself a pretty liberated women, and I definitely kept this part of my experience relatively hidden.

I also understand that some women feel nervous about shaking things up down there, for fear of miscarriage, premature labor, or injury to the fetus. Thankfully, sex and orgasm during pregnancy are perfectly safe, barring any medical conditions (obviously, talk to your medical provider about any concerns you have about sex during pregnancy).

The fact is, the incredible orgasms that are possible during pregnancy are something we ought to shout about from the rooftops. Women should know that there is nothing wrong with getting their rocks off when they’re pregnant — and they should be able to partake in this pleasure while they have the opportunity to do so.

Pregnancy can be physically taxing at times, and it has a ton of potential stress attached to it. Why not accentuate the perks and not just the ones that involve the fact that you are giving your heart, soul, and entire body up for your expectant child?

Let’s celebrate the fact that pregnancy offers a huge perk for you (and maybe your partner, if you feel like sharing).

So ladies, when you’re not vomiting your brains out, experiencing sciatic pain that you wouldn’t inflict on your worst enemies, and feeling so constipated you wonder if you’ll ever poop again, enjoy the heck out of your ability to orgasm like you never have before.

Seriously, it’s all for you, and you deserve it. And when you reach orgasm, soak it all in. I’m pretty sure that part of the reason God gave us incredible orgasms during pregnancy is to make up for the fact that we probably will want nothing to do with sex for the first few weeks (or months!) after the baby actually arrives.

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