Conception & The Big O - Does it Help or Hinder Your Chances
Does The Female Orgasm Increase Chances of Getting Pregnant?
My orgasm has become complex during some of our peak fertility weeks because let's face it, TTC sex is centered around his orgasm, many times at the sacrifice of my Big O. Which, I reason, is fine, we're not here to toss me up against a wall in a closet at the friend's party (hot yes?), we're here to make a babe. Yet, there was something in me that thought, hold up, wait a minute, women have the Big O for a reason, it must play some primal role in conception? Here's what we found out ma' friends.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The female orgasm has been long overlooked by the male-dominated medical research sector. Just saying. But things are changing. We've outlined the most popular theories below:
- An Orgasm Will Make Your Uterus Bounce
Most convincing perhaps in the female orgasm conversation is the work of a Sheri Winston, sexuality educator and founder of The Center for the Intimate Arts, and author of Women’s Anatomy of Arousal and Succulent SexCraft: Your Hands-On Guide to Erotic Play & Practice. In addition, Winston has served as a certified nurse-midwife and gynecology nurse practitioner. This gal is on fire, and she wants your orgasm to be too to optimize fertility.
“I’m convinced that powerful, well-timed female orgasms are helpful for conception.*”
The uterus literally does a happy dance when a woman climaxes. It’s proven that the uterus picks itself up and moves forward during arousal, bouncing up and down during the heat of your orgasm. That has to account for something, yes?
Stemming from the notion of the shifting cervix throughout one's cycle, Winston explored the paradox of why the cervix gravitates up during ovulation. It's almost as if the cervix demurs from penetration when fertility is at its peak. But why?! Turns out it's not retracting, it's preparing to pounce, like, well, a pussy cat. At the moment of orgasm, the cervix retreats back down and then up again. And repeat. This has been equated to a "lapping up" motion or sucking up of the sperm by the cervix. So your cervix desperately WANTS you to have an orgasm, my friend.
Others have termed this the “up suck theory” and it makes perfect sense. Mind you, that sperm can still forge through without the help of cervix lapping, BUT this motion does increase the number of sperm that makes it through, and thus improve chances of conception. And what’s the big O window? Researchers report in a UC Berkey’s Medical Journal, that that window for a conception optimizing female orgasm is between one minute before and 45 minutes after ejaculation.**
- Pigs Do It
The up suck theory has been proven in the animal kingdom thanks to the Danish National Committee for Pig Production, who have found that sows will have a 6 % increase in farrowing rate (# of piglets) if aroused while being artificially inseminated. Yeah. Mary Roach (who is a genius) breaks it down for us here (and there is video!).
- Flow-ride-her
Traditional Chinese Medicine experts are surmising something a little different regarding the benefits of the female orgasm to fertility. These theories focus on the increased blood flow caused by the climax, which boosts hormones and blood supply to the uterus in what they think of as the best cocktail for conception. *** Hormones oxytocin and prostaglandin can be released during your big O, and have the potential to assist implantation.
- It Can Release Stress (stress = ovulation killer #1)
What is absolutely true is the fact that the relaxing properties of your orgasm prime you for conception, by addressing the biggest baby blocker: stress.**** British reproductive physiologists have found that better sex yields better conception rates, and not necessarily because you’re having more of it. A study featured in The Great Sperm Race concluded that men who are fully stimulated will ejaculate up to 50% more. Why not make sex epic for both partners then, to ensure that you’re getting healthier sperm to a stress-free landing pad?
- It May Help To Have A Hollywood Climax
You know, the kind where both parties cum at the same time in pure epicness? No pressure Birdies (or Bees for that matter), but findings from a Cardiff University study have suggested that conception is optimized if both partners simultaneously orgasm. The results of their tests showed that “women who experienced pleasurable sex retained more active sperm from their partners than those that did not.” ***** One theory is that the female orgasm temporary neutralizes acidity in the vaginal tract, allowing sperm to more easily swim up. Viable indeed.
- So Much For The Afterglow
A more basic theory hails from San Fransisco State University, where a Dr. Ivy Chen stands by the notion that a well-pleasured woman tends to retain sperm better as she is more likely to stay horizontal from the relaxing aftermath of her orgasm.******
THE TAKEAWAY
I wish orgasms on everyone: the mailman, the DMV clerk, politicians, grannies... gimme a magic wand, cause I guarantee the world would be a better place. But it's not always so easy when that fertile window comes round and your love-making is less about sexual desire and more about timing. Don't over think, but DO prioritize your Big O. While opinions may still vary on just why the female orgasm is essential to fertility, at very best you can recharge your partnership, relax your bod, and prime your goddess vessel! Happy vibrations.
Stay tuned and join our newsletter, we have a pair of renowned sexual therapists talking about keeping it sexy while you try to conceive.
xoxo
GIMME MORE
SEX! Now That I Got Your Attention, How Much Should You Be Having for Successful Conception
THE NITTY GRITTY
* http://www.astroglide.com/blog/does-female-fertility-benefit-from-female-orgasm/
(No conflict of interest in the above blog, but should be noted this source is a retailer)
** https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~issues/articles/12.2_Tran_M_Orgasmic_Chemistry_2.html
*** http://www.bellybelly.com.au/conception/orgasm-does-a-female-orgasm-increase-chances-of-pregnancy/
**** http://www.parents.com/getting-pregnant/trying-to-conceive/tips/get-pregnant-sex/
***** http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/167186.stm
******http://www.parentingweekly.com/preconception/preconception_information/orgasms_and_fertiilty.htm
(No conflict of interest present in the above sources)
10 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR ORGASM
We love Mary Roach's candor and knack for exploring the questions we're all too afraid to ask regarding the "bad" things in life that absolutely fascinate us, like, the not-so-delicate functions of the human body, for instance, dirty dirty sex, and most notably, worm food. She's demystified the dead body in her witty bestseller Stiff, and she's turned heads again with her book Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.
Since we're flying our A.B.F flags high here at The Bird & The Bee, we thought it's only right that we provide you some egg-cellent orgasm trivia that we learned from Mary herself. (Best enjoyed with Mary's one-liners and twinkling eye, so we're including her 17 minute Ted Talk below for 10 Things You Didn't Know About Orgasm.) We're obsessed.