Child birth is often described as one of the worst sensations anyone can experience and has long been held as a benchmark against which pain thresholds can be measured. For many mothers, the experience can be gruelling, prolonged and arduous. However, new research has suggested that far from being painful, child birth can have the reverse effect on some women.

A survey by the Positive Birth Movement and Channel Mum has found that six per cent of women say they have had an orgasm during birth. Although, seldom discussed, academics and midwives have also said that they have observed this happening to some women.

Studies have shown that two brain regions which become active during orgasm are also active during painful sensations; namely the anterior cingulate cortex and the insula. However, the precise correlation between orgasm and birth is still contested by academics.

In 2013, research published in the journal Sexologies estimated that orgasms are experienced in 0.3 per cent of births. It is not known if the apparent increase to the 6 per cent figure recorded in the latest study is due to prevalence rates increasing, more women openly discussing it due to lessening taboo or if researchers are using different methodology.

Childbirth crisis: From the cradle to the grave Show all 8 1 /8 Childbirth crisis: From the cradle to the grave Childbirth crisis: From the cradle to the grave Qatar Hospital, Karachi Hospital, Pakistan: Naseem's baby was deliveredon 6 August 2007. Despite conditionswhich force six pregnant womento share four beds, Qatar Hospitalis one of the better places to givebirth in Pakistan. In a nearbymaternity ward, one women hadjust lost her eleventh child Childbirth crisis: From the cradle to the grave Malalai Hospital, Kabul,Afghanistan: Mariam, 20, in labour withher first baby. She was dragged by thehair from the delivery room to makespace for other women who werecloser to giving birth. In acute pain,she finally delivered a baby with blackboils on its body. Doctors suspected itto be a simple cancer and referred thebaby to Indira Gandhi Hospital.Mariam is recovering Childbirth crisis: From the cradle to the grave Orangi District, Karachi, Pakistan: Nabila, 32, is pregnant with her eight child. All her deliveries have taken place at home, with the assistance of the 'dai' who induces her labours using unknown methods. Three babies have died during childbirth and Nabila has never had an antenatal check-up Childbirth crisis: From the cradle to the grave Faizabad Hospital: Badakshan Province, Afghanistan: Mastana, 23, first became pregnant at 17 and now has three children. She is pregnant again, suffering from virginal discharge and abdominal pain, and has travelled for two days to reach the hospital from the Kuffab district where she lives Childbirth crisis: From the cradle to the grave Qatar Hospital serves the people of the Orangi District, a sprawling urban slum of three-and-a-half million people Childbirth crisis: From the cradle to the grave Chowkmagu Village, Panchthar District, Nepal: Kali, 45, is brought to the local hospital on a stretcher. She had not known she was pregnant and suffered a complete cervical prolapse. The family thought the baby's head had come out and she stayed at home like that for three days before the family decided to take her to hospital. There it was confirmed that Kali was 32 weeks pregnant, but also that she had cancer of the cervix. There was not foetal heartbeat Childbirth crisis: From the cradle to the grave Panchthar District Hospital, Phidim, Nepal: Dhan, 22, mid-labour. This is her first pregnancy, she has had no antenatal check-ups, has high blood pressure and a history of drinking. Dhan consumed alcohol the morning she was admitted to hospital, which followed a one-hour trek by stretcher from her home. The baby is born with symptoms of asphyxia and Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Childbirth crisis: From the cradle to the grave

Barry Komisaruk, a professor of psychology at Rutgers University who studies orgasms, said of the research: “It’s stimulation of the birth canal, stimulation of the cervix, the vagina and clitoris and uterine contractions. A lot of women say during sexual orgasms uterine contractions feel pleasurable.

“There are so many factors that could make the difference between a pleasurable response and a terribly stressful, aversive experience that you can’t generalise it. There’s no reason to try to generalise. Different people have different pain thresholds. Different people have different attitudes.