# IBSD & Giving Birth



## readyforthistobedone (Oct 27, 2009)

I'm not pregnant or even married so this isn't an imminent concern but it did occur to me recently so I thought I'd pose the question here:For those women with IBSD and who have given birth, how humiliating and awful was that experience? I want to have kids one day and I recently learned that its common for women to, ya know, go a little when they are pushing so much, so what is it like for women who have IBS?! Just the thought of that stresses me out. Any stories? Experiences? Were you able to talk to your baby doctor about it before hand? Etc, etc etc.


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Hon your GI system kinda shuts down when you go into labor. I had horrendous liquid D throughout one of my pregnancies... and literally had no trouble during labor at all.And just so you know... labor & delivery isn't at all humiliating... Of course I HAD to speak to my Dr (Just so you know...."A baby Doctor" is called an OB/GYN or obstetrician/gynecologist) about my IBS. It is important for them to know about ALL of me.. not just my uterus.. right? During one of my pregnancies.. my IBS virtually went into complete remission. With the 2nd pregnancy I had an awful flare the whole time. So Doc had me doing different things during both.Had 2 healthy kids and I hope the same for you!Really.. don't worry about this... and if you are worrying.. you need to speak to your Dr about it.


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## blondeoverblue24 (Oct 20, 2009)

I have not had kids myself, but I know that a lot of women's IBS symptoms change during the course of pregnancy. I hear of a lot of women who find pregnancy to be constipating, but that's not true for everyone. The nurses who assist with deliveries are amazingly good and tend to clean up any mess that you may make quite quickly. I know someone who didn't even realize she had a BM during, that's how well they took care of it. I'd say when/if you get into that situation, discuss it with your OB/GYN and I know there's a lot of good books out there as well.


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

> tend to clean up any mess that you may make quite quickly. I know someone who didn't even realize she had a BM during


There is usually NO BM mess. Unless _some_one _some_how had something just sitting in their colon and didn't get rid of it before their labor started in earnest... there IS no mess. What you say happened to your friend, Blonde, would be EXTREMELY RARE.


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## blondeoverblue24 (Oct 20, 2009)

Actually, said friend also works on a delivery floor. It's not as rare as you think - If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense because you use the same muscles to push as you would with a BM. It's not a definite, but it's a possibility.


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

OF course it IS a possibility... as loads of things are......But from what I know... it *is* a rare thing. Digestion shuts down period. Unless you haven't cleared out your colon during labor... which.. why would one NOT want to do that.. ??? But apparently where your friend works it must be SO common. It is kinda common sense to have an empty colon..but "common" sense maybe isn't all that common there.But I would imagine an IBS'ers would be THE last person to leave stuff in their colon...Ready PLEASE don't worry about this... Birth is a beautiful experience and IBS in NO way changes that!


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## blondeoverblue24 (Oct 20, 2009)

You don't have to be rude, BQ. I'm just trying to mention that it is possible and it's nothing to be ashamed of. They actually used to give some women enemas before they went into labor so this wouldn't happen, but that's definitely not standard practice any more.


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Sorry you took my posting as rude. Wasn't meant to be.Whatever>>>> Blonde I just think it is important for young IBS'ers to feel that the birthing experience is no different for them. That IBS will not make it "humiliating" and that they can expect a wonderful experience like everyone else.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I think BQ is just trying to reassure someone so stressed out that their biggest fear is not a sure bet.Even if it is nothing to be embarrassed about some people have so much anxiety over something that may never happen that it can be a big problem for them.A lot of these anxieties have some irrationality at the core and telling someone their worst fear happens all the time often does very little to calm them down even if some people think any given fear is no big deall. I've never found telling people something they fear is exactly what will happen to them calms them down, but maybe that works for you. I just haven't seen that approach work well on message boards, especially when people are anxious as they can't see a reassuring smile or other body language.I will say that every single thing anyone has ever feared no doctor has ever seen before they have, usually more than once, and they are not going to think you are a bad person or make fun of you over it or tell someone it was you or anything you fear they will do if some normal natural bodily function happens. They are trained to deal with these things *if* they happen and typically do everything they can to make you calm back down if something does make you anxious. Stressing the patient out more than they already are just makes the health care worker's job harder, so even if you think they won't do it for you, they will do it to make things easier for them.


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## blondeoverblue24 (Oct 20, 2009)

Maybe my original post didn't come off as well as I think it did. I intended to mention that these things can happen to people without IBS. Or they won't happen to people without IBS. Basically, the fact that you have IBS probably isn't going to play into your birthing experience too much. It was not my intention to raise worry or fear, but to calm them slightly. Some people like to be more shielded whereas I am someone who would rather know the possibilities to begin with rather than have something happen and then think "Why didn't anyone tell me?"I know that it is difficult to convey emotion and intent through a message board and I'm sorry if I misunderstood you, BQ, but it might be helpful if you didn't put things like "common sense" in quotation marks and use phrases like "Whatever, so and so...." - That's what I perceived as the rudeness I mentioned - I'm not saying this to be picky, I'm just letting you know why I had that reaction.I hope I do not further offend anyone, I just wanted to clarify. Happy holidays


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

> Happy holidays


 Yeah. Same to you.


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