Hi, just wondered how common or not this condition is, i had paralytic ileus 2 days after the birth of my son via c-section, we would like to try for another baby next year but have worries as it made me very ill and i hardly seen my son for 4 days as i was moved to another part of the hospital and was filled full of drugs for the pain.

Have you spoken to your consultant about this, and whether this could be preventable in subsequent pgs?

Bumping for the morning crew, for more advice.

I touched on it at my 6 weeks check up, tbh he did'nt give much advice on it other than it happened because the section but i was left feeling like they were trying to hide something

Paralytic ileus is the term given to the response of the small intestine after it is handled in any way. It happens after any form of surgery to open the abdominal cavity (C.Section or anything else like having your appendix out) and affects everyone differently. Also- the pain killing drugs used after surgery can make it more pronounced - which can be a bit of a vicious circle as you need pain relief but the side effects can make it last longer. Some people hardly notice it at all but for some it can last over a week. Essentially, the small bowel stops contracting the way it normally does and fills up with fluid and gas, makes you very bloated and usually makes you vomit- most people need a tube into their stomach via the nose to reduce the amount of vomiting and bloating as well as a drip to keep your fluid levels topped up. I'm a General Surgeon so I see it every other day and know how normal it is whereas perhaps your Obstetrician hasn't quite so much experience. It won't necessarily happen to you again if you have further surgery but it is undoubtedly a thoroughly unpleasant experience- especially when your priority was to be with your baby!!! Finally, the only thing we can do for paralytic ileus is to wait for the bowel to start contracting again- you may have noticed you started passing wind in the day it began to settle. There are some medicines that can help speed up the process but these aren't good for baby if you're breastfeeding.
I hope this has answered some of your questions. Take care.

Thank you for your response (sofasogood)
I was told by the midwifes it may have happened becuase the trauma from the section but they had never seen a case of it after a section. What i'm trying to find out what is the risk of it happening again to me as i already have a bowel condition and this has not been right since the ileus, we want more children but we need to weigh up the pro's and con's and maybe have an elective section so things would be more under control, i wish i knew about the drugs to speed up the process because of one thing an another i never got the chance to breastfeed my milk never arrived!

Hi, you are not alone! I too suffered with a paralytic ileus 24 hours after giving birth to my son by elective csection. I was extremely poorly, it was awful. My c-section follows years of bowel surgery (my last being about 4 years ago) so I put it down to the fact that my bowel didn't like being man handled again! My large bowel (colon) was removed in 2001 just leaving the small bowel and lots of operations after I had IVF (for the 2nd time) and it worked!

I too would love another child but it would have to be IVF and am scared about having more complications. For the moment am enjoying time with Charlie who is now 15months. The nasal tube is a distant memory when I look at him!

I had an elective section last week, and resulted in paralytic ileus, probably not helped by my eating a tube of sweets as soon as I got to the ward, was starving having been NBM for hours!!My husband(medical)said I shouln't have and should have waited for Dr to check that I had bowel sounds before stuffing my face. It resolved in 24hrs, but very painful. Make sure someone listens to your tummy before you eat!!