Mum’s colon squeezed like toothpaste
Janine Gard is a diploma-qualified birth educator (2005) and founder of Bellies to Babies antenatal and postnatal classes. She has helped more than 3700 parents prepare themselves mentally, emotionally and physically for their journey to parenthood and lo
Aquestion I get asked frequently is ‘Will I poop during labour?’ The simple answer to this question is, yes.
You’re using the samemuscles to push out your baby like the ones you usewhenhaving a bowel movement.
During labour, your baby has to descend through your pelvis to be born. This causes pressure on your internal organs, particularly your colon and rectum. As your baby movesthrough the birth canal, your colon is squeezed like a tube of toothpaste. If your colon hasn’t emptied before labour began, the pressure of your baby movingdown mayalso push out any poop left in the lower part of your colon.
What else do you need to know?
Womenoften poop during labour for anumber of normal, natural reasons:
Changing hormones: As your body preps for labour, your hormones are in flux, causing the muscles of your uterus, cervix and rectum to loosen. Somepre-labour diarrhoea and pooping during labour can result.
Baby’s position: Certain movementsduring labour can shift your baby around and put extra pressure on your rectum, especially if they’re headdownbut facing out towards your front (called the occiput posterior position).
Bearing down: Pushing a baby out kind of feels like having a bowel movementsince the muscles you use for both are exactly the same. And, of course, as you bear down, anything in the general vicinity will get eased out along theway— hence pooping during labour.
It’sgoodfor yourbaby
What? Yep, you read that right! Pooping during labour might help babies develop their microbiome, the bacteria that lives on and in everyone.
This microbiome helps with everything from digestion to helping youto fight off colds and other infections.
Newbornbabies do not have a microbiome as they are born with a sterile gut— they don’t have any bacteria in the large intestine.
As your baby travels through your vagina they are exposed to your bacteria. If you poop, your baby will pickupthis important gut bacteria.
Onebacteria baby receive from theirmumsis B. infantis, which defends against harmful bacteria, such as E. coli, Staphylococcus or Streptococcus.
This is a great kickstart for babies during their first six months of life for developing their immune system.
Whatabout babies that are born via caesarean section?
Because babies born via C-section will miss out on receiving beneficial bacteria, there is a practice called ‘vaginal seeding’. This is the practice of wiping your baby’s mouth, face and skin with your vaginal fluids after a C-section. This process transfers the microbes to your baby to help establish the baby’ s own micro bio me to promote good health and fight disease.
For vaginal seeding, your doctor places gauze swabs in your vagina during your C-section. As soon as your babycomes out, they’ll get rubbed with the swabs all over their face and body, including their eyes and mouth. Therefore, giving your baby all the samebacteria that they would receive if they passed through your vagina.
Is it beneficial?
Babies born by C-section are slightly more likely to have allergies, asthma, and other diseases. One possibility is that babieswhodon’t get exposed to the “good” bacteria that line the mother’s vagina miss out on a stronger immune system.
Research suggests that C-section infantsmayhave fewer kinds of gut bacteria, knownas the microbiome, than babieswhoarrive through the birth canal. There has beensome research carried out, but the jury’s still out on justhowsafe— andhow beneficial— this practice is.
Castor oil to clearout
Castor oil is an ‘old wives tale’ method for helping induce labour, but there’s limited research on its safety and effectiveness and it’s not for the fainthearted!
Whilesome studiesshowthat drinking castor oil does help jumpstart labour for somepeople, research also suggests it could cause unwanted side effects.
It’s best to consult yourLMCbefore trying castor oil. Somepossible side effects are nausea, diarrhoea, cramping, dehydration, low blood pressure and dizziness.
It’s possible that taking castor oil to induce labourmayalso increase the risk that your baby will pass meconium(baby’s first bowel motion) before they’re born, which maylead to birth complications.
Tips for possibly avoiding pooping during labour
● Relieve yourself early— listen to your body
● Towards the end of your pregnancy, eat a high fibre diet ● Keep hydrated
● Don’t be scared of pooping during labour— it’s normal and natural
I’ve heardmyLMCwill do a little (mental) dance? Here’s the thing, your LMCis going to see it as a good thing. They’re not going to say anything and will be there to help quickly cleanup without bringing attention to it. It tells themthat you’re pushing in the right spot and that labour is progressing. Andif youtry and fight it, your labour might be prolonged because you’re fighting this natural process. Because if things aren’t coming out of your body during labour, it’s going to take longer to meet your tiny human!
■ Bellies to Babies Antenatal& Postnatal Classes, baby massage courses and baby and infant first aid courses, 2087 Pakowhai Rd, Hawke’s Bay, 022 637 0624. https://www. hbantenatal-classes.co.nz/
Medical disclaimer: This page is for educational and informational purposes only and may not be construed asmedical advice. The information is not intended to replace medical advice offered by physicians.