# IBS and giving birth



## jess105 (Aug 6, 2002)

I look forward to having a baby in the next couple of years. I was thinking the other day if my ibs would make giving birth a terrible experience. Right now I get terrible D when I am nervous or anxious about something. For those of you have already had children, did you have problems with D during labor or the actual delivery itself?


----------



## ThisBearBites (Aug 28, 2002)

Yep!







And they never gave me an enema before hand - either time. Slightly embarassing, but not any worse than being naked and spread eagle before a group of strangers during the birhting process!







Seriously, my only concerns were: surviving labor (lamaze class - "and when you feel the 'pressure' of a contraction, you're to begin your breathing exercises" - What pressure? - that hurts!







); and delivering a healthy baby. I had no control what was going on with my body and I really didn't care if I did s**t on their floor, you should have seen what they were doing to me!


----------



## mayasmama (Sep 6, 2002)

Hi! I am new to this board. However, with the birth of my daughter, I had no problems at all. Infact, during my pregnancy with her, I never had one episode of any upset. It was wonderful! If anxiety causes your IBS to flare up, prepare yourself the best you can. Read books about labor, take classes(we were partial to the Bradley Method, very comforting and soothing), and perhaps hire a doula. A doula is a woman who is there to make sure that you are as relaxed as possible and to help guide you through the labor and birth process. Remember too that when you go into labor, your body shuts down your digestive system...kind of mother natures way of diverting your bodies energy to something else. It helps a lot!


----------



## Michele (Feb 4, 1999)

I'm a D type, but by late in my pregnancies I had turned C so no, there were no problems during labor or delivery. Within a few days after delivery I was back to D though!


----------



## jane93 (Jan 21, 2000)

Hi I'm almost there a couple more weeks.Our lamaze teacher (who did not have IBS) told us its considered perfectly normal to have a BM during labor and she had them with both her children..the nurses are not sqeuamish and apparently clean it all up lickety split...and supposedly you lose all modesty too.


----------



## Fay (Jan 11, 2001)

In Holland they don't give you an enema before birth, with all that pushing it's only natural if you have a bowel movement too. Don't worry about it, the nurses have seen it all, it's cleaned right away and it happens to everyone.Fay


----------



## webbsusa (Feb 1, 2001)

I haven't had any children yet--will start trying to conceive at the end of this month







--but I have read a lot about labor and delivery. Everything I've read says that a lot of women have a BM during labor and that it's perfectly normal. So try not to worry about it, because if you do end up going to the bathroom while you're pushing, you certainly won't be the first or the last woman to do so!


----------



## PippylongStockings (Jun 6, 2002)

Even people with normal stomachs have bowel movements during labor. A cute little homecoming queen I knew did this and was passing gas the whole time. It was quite funny to me knowing her as being so proper! It's the luck of the draw, just remember Drs have seen worse you can be sure. And with the pain I don't think you'll care what's going on as long as the baby pops out as fast as possible.


----------



## jess105 (Aug 6, 2002)

Thanx to everybody for your speedy responses, they have been very helpful!!!


----------

