sorry about the subject matter but please advise!

[trixipaws]

i am 25 and nearly 10 weeks pg, this is my first time. i kno its a long way off but i hav a question about the actual birth- and i must warn u its (ahem) a sensitive subject! my boyfriend's brother's wife was here earlier, she is also pg for the first time, and her due date is only 16 days after mine, so we're both excited. she asked me which hospital i wanted it at, and i told her i wanted mine at home, in one of those birth-pool things. she said what if i pooed and it came floating up! i knew it was possible to poo during childbirth, but i hadnt really considered this. so my question is: actually how common IS it?! sorry i kno no-one will wanna talk about it, but i just need some stats- who did and who didnt? please be honest! also if anyone can tell me how to avoid it. is it safe to eat nothing for 48 hours so there's no poo there?!

 

[loulou1980]

if you do poo you will do it withoutrealising it as you are more concerned with pushing bubba out,you get a seive net with a home birth pool so you can fish out all the bits anyway

 

[violet-glow]

Its very rare... but not unheard of that a woman poos during labour. Your bowel normally gets rid of everything in it just beofre of in the early stages of labour.

Is your sister in law just trying to scare you hun?
Doesnt sound like a nice thing to get you worried about

Also because it is your first pregnancy your midwife might advise a hospital birth. I no its embarrassing but talk to your midwife about all your worrys, it will make you feel so much better and shes heard it 100 times before

xx

 

[budge]

its common but midwives are very discreet and don't tell you - they just clear it up quietly.

my midwife told me when she sees poo she gets excited coz she knows a baby wil follow soon.

 

[littlebump]

When you're in labour the last thing you will be worrying about is whether a poo comes out. And even if it does, you may not even know anything about it as the MWs just clear it away very quickly - they are no doubt quite used to it.

But as violet says most people have a bit of a natural 'clear out' before labour starts - your body kind of knows to get itself ready.

Really don't worry about this - and definitely don't let it put you off having the birth you would like.

LBxx

 

[Lucy]

Hi

I didn't but my friend did and like Lou says she had no idea until her DH told her a few hours later (nice one DH!).

A possible sign of labour can be slight diarrhoa, it's your body's way of preparing for labour so although some women do I think most people wont as their body has already got rid of it all!

I remember watching a home water birth on tv when I was pregnant and saw the midwife use like a mini fishing net to scoop something out of the water - I presume the woman must've done a poo but the Midwife was very discreet and calm and didn't say anything and the woman didn't even notice either.

Lucy

 

[Bagpuss17]

This was one of my fears during the birth too. During the pushing stage it really felt like a poo was going to come out

I didn't dare ask my DH afterwards, I'd rather not know but yep as the others have said, you won't even have time to think about it. All your energy is focussed on getting your baby out safe and well.

 

[Jayceesmumma]

its common but midwives are very discreet and don't tell you - they just clear it up quietly.

my midwife told me when she sees poo she gets excited coz she knows a baby wil follow soon.

True, they wont tell you hun just clean up, dont worry too much about it. U wont care once ur in labour anyway lol!

 

[Tasha20]

and i told her i wanted mine at home, in one of those birth-pool things. she said what if i pooed and it came floating up!

I am having a home birth and its my first, if you really want one you need to stick to your guns

I am having an active birth at home and I asked about the poo situation and she said that at the time I wouldnt even worry about it as im concentrating on other things so don't worry yourself and if you do decide you really want a home birth, theres a few of us here who are having them and some who have had them, So any questions please ask

 

[claire81]

Hiya, it is quite common, and with my first it was something i was very paranoid about. With my second, i really couldn't give a s**t (haha) whather i did one or not. When your in that amount of pain you just want it out and if you poo you poo. As someone else said, the midwives come across it everyday and just clean it up and don't mention it.
Good luck with your pregnancy x

 

[Hypnorm]

believe me at that stage you couldnt care less if you have poo'ed.

I think if you want a home birth it really depends on your area, they WILL strongly advise that you go to hosp or a midwife unit, If your pregnancy has any problems then they will give you no option but a hosp birth.

 

[Dee1985]

as far as i no i didnt. but i easily could have and the Midwife cleared it with out knowing? i wouldnt car if i did any way. my fairy being turned inside out is more cringing then a pooh

but most people the day before labour usually have a good clear out any way. i was constipated all through pregnancy but the day i went into labour i had the runs... it was bliss

 

[Cat&Noah]

A poo floating round is the least of your worries, once you start pushing and your waters go and stuff, their will be all sorts of stuff floating round in there! You do get a little net too!

And as for not eatin before hand, I certainly would not recomend this, in fact I would say eat as much as you can, as once labour is established you may not want to eat anymore, and its important that you have as much enery as possible, as its going to be very tiring work, so the more food you eat before the more engery you will have at the crucial stage.

 

[nicki]

as far as i no i didnt. but i easily could have and the Midwife cleared it with out knowing? i wouldnt car if i did any way. my fairy being turned inside out is more cringing then a pooh

but most people the day before labour usually have a good clear out any way. i was constipated all through pregnancy but the day i went into labour i had the runs... it was bliss

You do have a way with words I agree tho. As far as I know I didn't poo but then my DH could be telling fibs as I told him not to tell me as I would be mortified!
Honestly tho. you won't care when you're in the middle of things. I was petrified I would do one & didn't want anyone else in the room apart from one midwife & my hubby but when I was in that much pain, exhausted & willing the baby to come out I really wouldn't have cared if I did the biggest turd in the world or if the whole hospital wandered in & had a look.

 

[Kas]

Well i had a really upset stomach before goin into established labour, I didnt think I did poo during it as i was in the toilet so much as I had an active birth. But after a few drinks one night my OH informed me I had but i really didnt care, i was in so much pain and i was to interested in my son after it to see anything. But there was all sorts of blood and gunk coming out anyway, as they say when you give birth you leave yer dignity at the door, the midwife keeps the whole area clean and sterile during the birth too, so your OH might not see anything if you do, good luck with your pregnancy XkelX