Pooping After Birth: What New Moms Need to Know

Why does pooping after birth hurt?  

Well, you aren’t the only person going through this difficult and troubling situation.  

A successful delivery isn’t the end of the birthing process. The pain and exhaustion pregnancy leaves on a woman’s body is real. After childbirth, the next thing that might bother a woman is probably the fact that she’s finding it difficult to manage her bowel movements. 

Whether it’s a vaginal or a C-section birth, pooping after birth with stitches becomes difficult.  

In this article, we have discussed why it might be difficult to have proper bowel movements and figure out the ways to manage them.  

Why Pooping After Birth Can Be Difficult?

Pooping after birth can be quite difficult for new mothers who just came out from the labor room. During childbirth, the pelvic floor muscles are stretched and weakened. During delivery, it causes discomfort and makes it harder for someone to deliver a baby. 

Most importantly, the perineal area had to go through surgery, or if there were any stitches, it would make it harder for someone to poop properly. 

Here are some common reasons why it’s difficult to poop after childbirth – 

Muscle Strain 

During childbirth, the pelvic floor muscles are extremely stretched. This significant stretch makes it difficult for new mothers to pass a stool after childbirth. 

Perineal Trauma 

The next reason for difficulty in pooping after birth is perineal trauma. After childbirth, women experience tears or episiotomies in their perineum. This trauma and the pain, along with it, cause hesitation when trying to push stool after childbirth.  

Pain Medication 

The next reason for slow bowel movement after childbirth is the use of pain medication. If someone is on pain medication after childbirth, the medicine can cause the passing of stool to slow down as a side effect.  

Dehydration 

Once new mothers start to breastfeed, it can cause their bodies to dehydrate. A dehydrated body would often have difficulty passing the stool.  

Hormonal Changes 

Another common reason that makes pooping after birth difficult is hormonal fluctuation. The body of a new mother goes through lots of hormonal changes. The shift of hormonal levels often causes bowel motility, leading to constipation.  

Fear of Pain 

Fear of pain after childbirth is real. It can cause women to delay their time going to the toilet after childbirth. This can lead to constipation and further complicate their bowel movement.  

Common Concerns and Symptoms

Pooping after birth is difficult, and the bowel movement difficulty can take different forms after childbirth. Some of the most common concerns and issues regarding this include the following examples – 

Postpartum Constipation 

Concern: During childbirth, the abdominal muscles start to weaken. In addition, the supplements and the postpartum meds cause dehydration. This makes it almost impossible for a new mother to pass the stool.  

Care: the first thing to do under such conditions is to drink enough. Give your body the hydration it needs and also eat foods that are rich in fiber. Once your doctor allows it don’t hesitate to walk around. You can also rely on prescribed laxatives. 

Postpartum Hemorrhoids 

Concern: This condition appears in swollen veins around the rectum. It can also be due to the weight of your uterus growing during your pregnancy and the push during childbirth. Pooping after birth with this kind of condition can cause pain in the tender area. 

Care: First, try to take sitz baths to help the hemorrhoids shrink. Also, you can rely on hazel pads and OTC hemorrhoid cream. This will help you keep the pressure off your bottom while sitting on a pillow that’s shaped like a donut. This is a way to keep constipation from happening, helping you avoid straining your muscle while trying to poop. 

You can also rely on the stool softener that your doctor recommends.  

Postpartum Diarrhea  

Concern: If you are taking medications to treat conditions like pre-eclampsia or postpartum hemorrhage, then postpartum diarrhea might happen. However, it’s not a common reason. 

Care: For this symptom, you might want to avoid stool softeners. You should eat food like bananas, white rice or applesauce and white toast. 

These are some common concerns under which pooping might be difficult after childbirth.  

Pooping After Birth: How Long does it Normally Take?

In general, women take between three to five days to start their bowel movement after childbirth. Some women also have it on the same day after childbirth.  

Unless someone is going through the conditions mentioned above, pooping shouldn’t be difficult after childbirth. However, it still takes a few days for most women to adjust their bodies and work through the postpartum pain.  

It’s safe to say that the postpartum bowel movement timeline varies from person to person. It depends on what works for your body after delivery. The outcome can vary depending on the type of delivery someone had.  

Vaginal Delivery 

Women with a vaginal delivery take a day or two before they are able to pass the stool.  

C-Section 

Women with a C-section delivery can take from three to four days before they are ready for a bowel movement.  

Tips to Ease the Process

It’s best to seek medical help and have a clear conversation with the healthcare provider if there are any complications regarding bowel movements. But, there are several tips that most healthcare professionals would suggest. You can try maintaining these in your routine if you are trying to make pooping after birth easier – 

Drink Enough Water 

Since you are breastfeeding also, your body is likely to get dehydrated faster. That’s why it’s essential to keep drinking water. Make sure to have enough fluid.  

Easy to digest Food

Eat foods that are high in fiber. Make sure that you have lots of veggies, whole grain food, and fruits. Make sure that those are easy to digest.  

Magnesium Rich Food 

Here’s a secret to easy bowel movement after birth. Eat lots of magnesium-rich food. Green food, seeds, nuts, whole grains, wheat germ, and dry beans are rich sources of magnesium. If your healthcare provider recommends it, you can also opt for an Epsom salt bath.  

Gently Exercise 

You must keep that body moving if you want to make the bowel process easy. Also, it would help if you maintained a proper posture when trying to push the poop out. First, put your leg on top of a stool. This is a technique to optimize your bowel movement mechanism.  

Breathing Exercise 

Apart from bodily movements, breathing exercises are also helpful to keep your body calm and relaxed for better bowel movement. Breathing techniques help avoid straining bowel after birth. 

When to Seek Help? 

Typically, you should have a bowel movement three to four days after birth. But, if you haven’t any sign of bowel movement in a week or so, it’s best to seek medical help immediately. Also, do ask poop-related questions to your healthcare provider during your postpartum recovery period.  

There’s no need to feel ashamed or shy about this.  Postpartum problems related to bowel movement are natural, and if you need medical help, there’s no need to be shy. Yes, it might seem a little difficult and hard during the first few attempts of your postpartum bowl, but, it’s completely natural and possible. As you keep adapting to healthy habits and treatment, you will get over this difficult situation.  

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