Pooing in labour

I am such a prude that when I was in labour with my ds,until pretty late on I wouldn't even take my knickers off Pooing would have sent me into hysterics. I have no idea if it happened or not, and don't want to know tbh. I'd still rather risk it than have a c-section though.

I defintitely did with ds as he had poo on his shoulder and when I got up for my shower there was poo on the sheet! Didn't notice though at the time

A good friend of mine was terrified that she wouldn't be allowed to wear socks in labour as she hates her feet and no one ever sees them it really was the only thing she requested at the hospital!this makes the poo thing seem reasonable

phew stripeymous, v similar to me then - i was prepared for it to happen once, just not several times!

When you think how much poo you will be dealing with from your newborn in the next two years, it is nothing in comparison
I pooed all the way through the final couple of hours of labour (on and off, not literally continuously of course) and was honestly very mortified. Fortunately, I had kind sensitive midwives who had seen and dealt with it all before and didn?t even bring it up in conversation (apart from checking at one stage when I was 9cms and perched on the loo that I was straining from moving my bowels or was I actually pushing a baby out into the pan....)

Their sensitivity was very unlike DH?s approach to the topic throughout labour, whose rather dry sense of humour is guaranteed to be inappropriate in times like these

Well I was with Aloha on this one. Don't poo in front of DH and certainly didn't want to during labour. I also wanted a mirror to see and had no desire to see anything other than emerging baby. Had enema first time and planned one for this one.

By the time I got to hospital my contractions were pretty hefty and had no desire for anyone to go near my bottom. Knew I had some poo coming and warned midwife (who couldn't give a toss) and DH who just shrugged. Had epidural and filled a couple of trays with wee and when they broke my waters it went EVERYWHERE.

Pretty messy but I honestly didn't care one bit - had thought I would.

Very entertaining reading!

This was a BIG fear for me, more so than labour.
I had numerous nightmares about pebble dashing the delivery room etc! Im a bit neurotic about this issue & am horrified when friends mention the fact they go when dh is in the bath etc.

My mum solved the problem for me as she was my birthing partner. She refused to let me eat anything in the early stages of labour!! She was as scared as i was.

However, you do 'go' in the early stages & you dont much fancy eating anything until it's all over. The you start to wish McDonalds delivered!

I told the midwife i thought i needed the toilet so she promptly brought me a birthing stool with a sterile bowl inside. For those of you who havent encountered this phenomenon...it's like sitting on an old fashioned toilet! 10 mins later & 2 pushes, out popped my daughter...ALONE!

Hallelujah. I really recommend trying it, it's a great position to deliver in!

LIZS, thanks! But organised not! Yes, dp will stay there with us (at a price!). They also have English speaking midwives, but its luck if I get one! dp is Swiss though and I am not too worried about it, and I have already started to give him a full set of my wishes and instructions!

After this thread it appears that I have to add something else to his list of instructions! The poo issue hadn't even occured to me before now!!!!! Makes very entertaining reading though!

Hi, Leogaela

I went to Klinik im Park as my OB/Gyn didn't do Sanitas at the time and had heard Englidsh was more widely spoken there (not as much as I'd hoped though). That was important to me at the time, newly arrived in a foreign country, although ironically I ended up speaking French in labour as I had a French speaking Swiss midwife - all a bit surreal !!

I have friends who have delivered at Sanitas, a couple more than once, and they have been very happy there. Apparently partners can even stay over afterwards and they are one of the few locally to have the Baby Friendly certification. You sound very organised to have chosen it already.

Apologies for the hijack !

i had an enema with my first at solihull hospital but by the time i had ds2 they wernt doing them anymore. quite glad really as i found it humiliating having to run to the loo spent the whole labour on the toilet as was scared that i'd poo on the bed. they even took the gas and air into the loo for me
delivered on a matress just outside the toilet door!
dont know if i did a poo during labour, asked hubby and he says not but then hes hardly going to tell me the truth... dont really want to know.
did a wee on the midwives hand though, was at pushing stage and couldnt move
was a birth partner for my friend and she did poo in labour. she asked my afterwards if she had and of course i swore that she hadn't.......

an enema is a bullet shaped thing that is pushed up your bum with lubricant or a liquid thats squirted up. i actually think thats more humiliating than pooing in labour, and ive given a fair few enemas

Erm, no I don't think so...

LIZS, I am going to Sanitas in Kilchberg. They have a pool in both delivery rooms there and the more I think about it the more I like the idea. I also looked at the Geburtshaus and Triemli but didn't fancy either of them. where did you go?

Maybe a stupid question, but does an enema involve taking drugs or what?

Personally I didn't have a catheter after my c/sections and the drip came out very soon after. I remember walking gingerly to the loo about 8 hours after the op with no tubes or anything. A catheter takes about 10 seconds to put in with a skilled mw and it goes in when they're checking you down there anyway. There are definite modesty advantages to a c/s!!

I can understand the preference for csection in many respects, not least of the worry about pooing, losing control etc However don't you also as a result of the spinal or epidural have drips and a catheter which personally I'd find rather more awkward and embarrassing to deal with on top of things like the post partum bleeding.

knew something was not right!! (write )

you empty your bowels naturally when you go into labour (well when you start iykwim) so there isnt much left by the time you get to pushing, IME

i enjoyed my c-section too, whilst my spinal was still working - then i felt like I had been run over by a bus

Hi Delgirls, most of the time the body will naturally empty itself in pre-labour. I had thought enemas bit old fashioned but by the look of this thread some places will still practice.

If you look \link{www.doula.org.uk\here} you will find out more about doulas and who/how many threre are in your area.

Didn't get to worry about pooing in labour had an emergency c-sect at 33 weeks. It was over very quickly and went well but during the night I haemorraged a lot of blood - knew something was not write and n top of that I wanted to go to the loo for a poo- but midwives would not let me leave the bed and offered a bed pan - 0h the horror - imagine. I declined and with that offer the urge to poo promptly disappeared then I got worse - went into shock blah blah and the consultants said the best way to stop the bleeding was to administer and a certain drug as a suppository - all my nightmares rolled into one - but they did it and I didn't feel anything and it worked - bit off the subject but still involves poo and labour. Though the thing I hated most about the c-sect despite the discomfort of the cut was the constipation - days of it - rotten absolutely rotten!!! Far too much info but I feel better for it

moondog, no apologies please, how could you know, just grateful for your thoughts, thanks. sorry sorry sorry to Shalaa for hijacking but I would still like to know about enema's if that let's me off the hook

Oh Delgirls I didn't know!!
I'm so terribly sorry if my tone sounded arch.
I know that your new baby keeps the memories of your dh alive for ever. How tragic but how exciting for you as well! I think you really need your sister with you in that case.

The very very very best to you.

XXXXXXXX

thanks aloha, do you know I never thought to ask her, KATG that is, thanks.

Sorry about your situation Delgirl.
Kateandthegirls is someone who had her second child after being widowed. I'm not sure what she did. Would a doula be a good choice for you? I'm sure your sister will make it on time. Just let her know good and early.

rofl morningpaper

Shaala: I think most DH's stay WELL away from the business end tbh.

Delgirls: My hospital didn't do enemas - I asked beforehand. Serves them right that I pushed out a 9lb turd IMO.