Epidural versus non-epidural or no analgesia for pain management in labour. 2018. https://www.cochrane.org/CD000331/PREG_epidurals-pain-relief-labour (accessed 3 March 2020)
Arms S. Immaculate deception II, myth, aagic and birth.Berkeley: Celestial Art; 1994
Buckley S. Sexuality in labour and birth: an intimate perspective. In: Walsh D, Downe S (eds). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell; 2010
Buckley S. Hormonal physiology of childbearing: evidence and implications for women, babies, and maternity care. National partnership for women and families.Washington DC: Childbirth Connection Programs; 2015
Ecstatic birth: the hormonal blueprint of labor. 2018. https://gentlenaturalbirth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Ecstatic-birth-ebook-2018.pdf (accessed 23 February 2020)
Experiences of pleasurable childbirth: uncovering a blind spot in anthropology. 2014. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/afe4/c85f8d752922ca07923be2b4fe5e4e9dd2e6.pdf
Whoa, you really can have an orgasm during childbirth. 2019. https://www.womenshealthmag.com/sex-and-love/a27534497/orgasmic-birth/ (accessed 8 March 2020)
Davis E, Pascali-Bonaro D. Orgasmic birth your guide to a safe, satisfying and pleasurable birth experience.New York: Rodale; 2010
Dick-Read G. Childbirth without fear.London: Pinter and Martin; 2004
Downe S, Finlayson K, Oladapo O, Bonet M, Gülmezoglu AM. What matters to women during childbirth: A systematic qualitative review. PLOS ONE. 2018; 13:(4) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194906
Drozdowskyj ES, Castro EG, López ET, Taland IB, Actis CC. Factors influencing couples' sexuality in the puerperium: a systematic review. Sex Med Rev. 2020; 8:(1)38-47 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sxmr.2019.07.002
Cardiovascular and endocrine alterations after masturbation-induced orgasm in women. 1999. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10367606
Sex education in pregnancy: does it exist? A literature review. 2008. https://www.tandfonline.com/
Unpacking MILF: exploring motherhood, sexuality and feminism. 2015. http://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/1378
Gaskin IM. Ina May's guide to childbirth.New York: Bantam; 2003
Gaskin IM. Birth matters: a midwife's manifesta.London: Pinter and Martin; 2011
Hashemian F, Shafigh F, Roohi E. Regulatory role of prolactin in paternal behavior in male parents: a narrative review. J Postgrad Med. 2016; 62:(3)182-187
Hotelling BA. From psychoprophylactic to orgasmic birth. J Perinat Educ. 2009; 18:(4)45-48
Kitzinger S. Birth and sex: the power and the passion.London: Pinter and Martin; 2012
The post-orgasmic prolactin increase following intercourse is greater than following masturbation and suggests greater satiety. 2006. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16095799
Khajehei M, Doherty M. Childbirth in pleasure and ecstasy: a fountain of hormones and chemicals. Int J of Childbirth Educ. 2012; 27:(3)73-80
Komisaruk B. R, Whipple B. How does vaginal stimulation produce pleasure, pain, and analgesia?. In: Fillingim RB (ed). : IASP Press; 2000
Neural pathways mediating vaginal function: the vagus nerves and spinal cord oxytocin. 2003. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
The quality of sexual experience in women correlates with post-orgasmic prolactin surges: Results from an experimental prototype study. 2013. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
A common neurobiology for pain and pleasure. 2008. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18354400
The orgasmic history of oxytocin: Love, lust, and labor. 2011. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22029018
Mander R. Skills for working with (the woman in) pain. In: Walsh D, Downe S (eds). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell; 2010
Masters W, Johnson V. Human Sexual Response.Boston: Little Brown; 1966
The experience of pleasure: a perspective between neuroscience and psychoanalysis. 2018. https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00359
What it's really like to have an orgasmic birth. 2015. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/news/a48889/orgasmic-birth-what-is-it/ (accessed 11 April 2020)
Myles textbook for midwives, 16th edn. London: Elsevier Ltd; 2014
National Maternity Review: Better births improving outcomes of maternity services in england a five year forward view for maternity care.London: NHS England; 2016
Nelson S. Women and sex, 2nd edn. In: Squire C (ed). Oxford: Radcliffe Publishing; 2009
Newton N. Maternal emotions: a study of women's feelings toward menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, breast feeding, infant care and other aspects of their femininity.New York: Paul B Hoeber; 1955
Some aspects of primitive childbirth. 1964. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14132546
NHS Digital. NHS maternity statistics 2018-2019. 2019. https://files.digital.nhs.uk/D0/C26F84/hosp-epis-stat-mat-summary-report-2018-19.pdf (accessed 29 February 2020)
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Intrapartum care for healthy women and babies. Clinical guideline CG190 2017. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg190 (accessed 3 March 2020)
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Antenatal care for uncomplicated pregnancies. Clinical guideline CG62. 2019. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg62 (accessed 3 March 2020)
Odent M. The functions of the orgasms. The highways to transcendence.London: Pinter and Martin Ltd; 2009
Office for National Statistics. Birth characteristics for England and Wales. 2019. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/birthcharacteristicsinenglandandwales/2017#toc (accessed 2 March 2020)
Childbirth climax: the revealing of obstetrical orgasm. 2013. https://www.em-consulte.com/en/article/849520
Multiphasic prolactin secretion during parturition in human subjects. 1977. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jsm.12097
Stanway A, Stanway P. Choices in childbirth.London: Pan Books; 1984
Tew M. Safer childbirth? A critical history of maternity care.London: Free Association Books; 1998
A psychological view of sexual pain among women: applying the fear-avoidance model. 2013. https://journals.sagepub.com/
Uvnäs Moberg K. The oxytocin factor, tapping the hormone of calm, love, and healing, 2nd edn. London: Pinter and Martin; 2011
Uvnäs-Moberg K, Ekström-Bergström A, Berg M Maternal plasma levels of oxytocin during physiological childbirth – a systematic review with implications for uterine contractions and central actions of oxytocin. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2019; 19:(285) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-019-2365-9
Wager TD, Scott DJ, Zubieta JK. Placebo effects on human mu-opioid activity during pain. PNAS. 2007; 104:(26)11056-11061 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0702413104
Labour pain and epidurals: tampering with the pain–pleasure paradox. 2009. http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=db5c100e-0e9c-4bf3-b159-f316aad3bd45%40sessionmgr4008
The gendered nature of sexual scripts. 2005. https://journals.sagepub.com/
Analgesia produced in women by genital self-stimulation. 1988. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3812827
World Health Organization. WHO recommendations: Intrapartum care for a positive childbirth experience. 2018. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/260178/9789241550215-eng.pdf (accessed 2 March 2020)
Wrobel B, Nowosielski K, Sodowska P, Sodowski K. Psychological factors in sexual pain – fear-avoidance model in chronic pelvic pain syndrome therapy. Int J of Gynecol and Clin Pract. 2015; 108:(2) https://doi.org/10.15344/2394-4986/2015/108
