# Worried: Will My IBS/Nutrient Deficiencies Prevent Me from Safely Carrying a Child to Term?



## SLaurenAlise (Apr 10, 2013)

I've had IBS for about 7 years and it has steadily worsened. Now I've been told that I'm severely anemic and that I'm malnourished. My new doctor has told me that because I have so little "friendly bacteria" in my gut and the lining of my stomach is so destroyed from the IBS, I am unable to properly absorb nutrients from my food. I have a ton of nutrient deficiencies -- Vitamin D, iron, Vitamin C, etc.

Now I am worried that I won't be able to safely get pregnant and carry a child to term, or that if I do get pregnant, the baby might not develop correctly due to my inability to properly absorb nutrients.

My doctor says that we need to get my IBS under control before I try to get pregnant, but that she sees no reason why I won't be able to have children.

I am still worried, though, because so far, everything that we have tried to help ease my IBS flare ups has only made them worse. I understand that I have had this condition for 7 years and that it has therefore had the opportunity to impact many interrelated systems in my body which will take time to heal. But I can't help wondering if even after I get my IBS symptoms under better control, I will never be truly healthy enough to safely carry a child to term. My husband and I have discussed the fact that if we had a child that experienced some malnourishment in the womb and ended up having developmental problems or other problems, it would just rip us up inside.

I know that some of you are pregnant even while still experiencing IBS attacks -- what has your doctor said about the health of your child?

Has anyone else run into this problem? Do many of you have nutrient deficiencies?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Nutrient deficiencies are not that common in IBS. Have you been tested for celiac disease? It can also effect fertility as well as cause nutrient deficiencies, so if you have that you need to know and get on a strict gluten free diet. Lots of people have healthy babies once they get the celiac under control.

I had a friend who couldn't eat anything at all while pregnant. They can do IV nutrition if absolutely necessary and her baby was healthy at birth, so there is always hope.


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## SLaurenAlise (Apr 10, 2013)

Thank you for your encouragement... I hadn't thought of IV nutrition. My husband and I really want to have children, so that makes me very happy!

Yes, I've been tested for celiac -- I don't have it.

I had a feeling that nutrient deficiences weren't too common for other IBS sufferers, particularly because I haven't found a whole lot in Heather Van Vorous's IBS book about nutrient deficiencies. I have found a few posts on this forum and other places online by other people who have nutrient deficiences and need to take supplements, though, so I know I'm not alone. And it turns out that a lot of the same people who have nutrient deficiencies also seem to be sensitive to taking supplements, which is the case with me. At least some of the vitamin and mineral supplements that my doctor wanted me to try seem to have only worsened the IBS.

I hope that this forum will let me connect with others who have nutrient deficiences and/or challenges with being pregnant with IBS.

Thanks again!


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