How do nhs staff deal with this

[StressedButBlessedx]

Hi, just a curious question to ladies in the uk. I'm pregnant with my second child and I was wondering how the midwives deal with pooping during labour? My labour with DD was so traumatic that I have no idea if I did or didn't. But during a normal labour, do they make a fuss or even mention it if you poo whilst pushing?

This is actually the thing I'm most stressed about lol.

I thought I had, DH and my Mum said I didn't, then around a year later when they'd had a few drinks they admitted I had, but all they saw was the midwife popping a sieve in the water and quickly removing something, so they guessed what it was. I was mortified for all of five minutes lol

[quote iamtheoneandonlyyy]@EarringsandLipstick I think of the two of us I'm the one that's offered advice to the op so not pointless. Shall we end this chat here? Thankyou [/quote]
No idea what you are on about. You were clearly questioning the motivation for the thread, I said if you'd concerns for report it.

🤷🏻‍♀️

And it's 'thank you'. Real big bear of mine.

Real big bear of mine.

Ah! Hoist by my own petard!

'Bug' of course not 'big' 🤦🏻‍♀️

@iamtheoneandonlyyy

Ladies.. A very specific worry OP, I'm sure google can reassure you

Or you know... So can a forum made up of people who have been through the same experience you're worried about, and want to reassure you with their own stories

@EarringsandLipstick Ah you're one of those grammar people.
Shocker

Ah you're one of those grammar people.

😂😂😂

Guilty as charged. You are winning the 🏆 for oddest comments on this thread.

I haven’t got a clue whether I did with either of mine. No one has ever said anything.

To be fair, during both my labours I really didn’t care what happened down there or who saw. I completely lost all my inhibitions.

@Babdoc

I’m a retired doctor, and when I did my obstetric attachment as a medical student, we were taught to apply pressure with a pad over the anus to prevent any faecal soiling during delivery of the baby. Women were often also given an enema in early labour to empty the bowel in advance. It sounds like neither practice is still performed, if so many women are apparently defecating on their newborns! Rather glad I had my own two babies over thirty years ago. Without any… accompaniments!

I actually feel sorry for Babdoc. She's had some digs here. She was just saying that this and that happened in her day, and that she was relieved she'd had hers when ( as I see it and maybe she does) the interventions like enemas perhaps worked(!?!). A generation or two on, and we'll be looking back on how cruel and undignified it was ( just look at the humiliation of many on this thread) to have put them through even more indignity ( the passing of stool, the defacation, the pooing, the odour, call it what you want) than giving birth. We will all be looked down on in the end.

We will all be looked down on in the end.

What are you talking about?!

Birth is, and always was, an undignified, messy process. It's also glorious & wonderful.

A bit of poo is no issue, then or now. Babdoc talked about newborns being defecated on - this does not happen.

@Oneearringlost

It's not humiliating. It's no worse than the other stuff that comes out when giving birth.

To imply so, makes it sound like giving birth naturally is something to be embarrassed about or ashamed of.

Shame on you for trying to make other women feel bad about something that MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of women go through.

Let's try and normalise it perhaps? Let's try and reassure each other perhaps? Lift each other up perhaps??

[quote 00100001]@Oneearringlost

It's not humiliating. It's no worse than the other stuff that comes out when giving birth.

To imply so, makes it sound like giving birth naturally is something to be embarrassed about or ashamed of.

Shame on you for trying to make other women feel bad about something that MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of women go through.

Let's try and normalise it perhaps? Let's try and reassure each other perhaps? Lift each other up perhaps??[/quote]
Oh dear.
The thing is, many on here have been humiliated by the awareness that they poo'ed during delivery, either or both by it being witnessed by midwives or their partners.
I'm not saying women will be looked down on, simply that our practice changes and that even evidenced based practice will change and something else will be deemed reasonable in 20 years time.
We can all, and should, stand strong. Giving birthis a natural part of being a woman.
But given the embarrassment of many on here, I can see that ,if you can minimise that, is there a reason why you shouldn't, if you could?
Good practice evolves, while you could argue some practices may have been misguided "in the old days", and they were misguided, often, the practices may have been driven by a simple urge to protect women from more embarrassment than might have been needed.

They're 'humilated' because it's not seen as normal, because birth is still shrouded in mystery because women just don't talk about it for some reason.

It's a similar issue to breastfeeding. There's a mystery about it, women cover up, are encouraged by a certain generation to use formula etc women are starting to talk about it more, you see more women breastfeeding in public (with or without covers... Encouragingly more without covers than with) it helps normalise what is a perfectly natural act between Mum and Baby.

If we keep talking and sharing and the midwives keep treating it as a normal part of giving birth, just quietly dealing with any bodily fluid that come out during the birth then it won't be this bug embrassing and "shameful" thing.

Birth should be as natural as possible. And yes there might be poo. But there's also saliva...blood...tears...... snot...amniotic fluid...venrix...a whole placenta... Birth isn't a pretty thing.. and that's Ok!

No worse than the blood, fluid, placenta and associated gunk that comes out of your body when you squeeze out a baby.
Nurses and doctors are not squeamish when it comes to bodily fluids thankfully.

I don't know what would be wrong with letting a woman in the latent state of labour giving herself a couple of suppositories to clear the bowel, and reduce the embarrassment of pooing during labour? I disagree with a heavy duty enema but don't understand why this can't be offered? I wonder why the pendulum swung so far the the other way? Really curious as to the thinking behind it. I had suppositories before my c section and it wasn't a big deal.

@00100001

They're 'humilated' because it's not seen as normal, because birth is still shrouded in mystery because women just don't talk about it for some reason.

It's a similar issue to breastfeeding. There's a mystery about it, women cover up, are encouraged by a certain generation to use formula etc women are starting to talk about it more, you see more women breastfeeding in public (with or without covers... Encouragingly more without covers than with) it helps normalise what is a perfectly natural act between Mum and Baby.

If we keep talking and sharing and the midwives keep treating it as a normal part of giving birth, just quietly dealing with any bodily fluid that come out during the birth then it won't be this bug embrassing and "shameful" thing.

Birth should be as natural as possible. And yes there might be poo. But there's also saliva...blood...tears...... snot...amniotic fluid...venrix...a whole placenta... Birth isn't a pretty thing.. and that's Ok!

In my experience it's talked about more than ever now. You've got programmes like one born every minute, 'celebrities' and Instagrammers record their births and then making videos and go into great lengths about the gory details. I know that sounds trivial.

My Nan is very tight lipped about my mums upbringing all I've heard is she was born at home and 'I fed her myself', there is no way she would disclose anymore.

As for infant feeding that's a whole new ballgame tbh. It's shit from all angles and you get judged all which ways

True, it's getting better:)

@Babdoc

I’m a retired doctor, and when I did my obstetric attachment as a medical student, we were taught to apply pressure with a pad over the anus to prevent any faecal soiling during delivery of the baby. Women were often also given an enema in early labour to empty the bowel in advance. It sounds like neither practice is still performed, if so many women are apparently defecating on their newborns! Rather glad I had my own two babies over thirty years ago. Without any… accompaniments!

There is evidence that exposure to their mothers poo during birth helps the baby develop a healthy biome.

www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/10/eating-tiny-bit-mom-s-poop-could-give-c-section-babies-immune-primer

I know I pooed during my waterbirth (don't know about the other births, but dh thinks not). I asked if I was pooing and the midwife tried to reassure me that it didn't matter, but I was insistent on knowing. Then I could hear dh and the midwife trying very hard to fish it out discreetly with the sieve the NCT had told me to bring for that specific purpose, but the water was so murky by then that they kept losing the damn thing. The only labour when I was laughing during the 2nd stage! Eventually the midwife told dh not to bother any more but to focus on me.

When the pool was drained, there it lay in all its turdy glory, together with the placenta and piles of meconium. They hosed the two of us off in the pool before we got out.

We put a pad over it to keep it away from baby.
TBH it doesn’t happen that often.

@Babdoc

I’m a retired doctor, and when I did my obstetric attachment as a medical student, we were taught to apply pressure with a pad over the anus to prevent any faecal soiling during delivery of the baby. Women were often also given an enema in early labour to empty the bowel in advance. It sounds like neither practice is still performed, if so many women are apparently defecating on their newborns! Rather glad I had my own two babies over thirty years ago. Without any… accompaniments!

I'm so glad I had the enema too. The PP who pooed in the pool and the gave birth in it, how horrible. The comments about being made to lie down, I did and had two hour labours. Some changes in midwifery practice are not an improvement. There'll be some study about newborns getting infections and it will all change again.

Seriously...have you even given birth??? there's just as 'bad' stuff coming out if your nether regions ... Why is the poo worse than the blood, or the vernix, or the placenta etc???

I did during my 1st and 2nd. Never mentioned, it was just dealt with quietly and professionally.

You might have a millisecond of embarrassment at the thought when you get the feeling that you need to 'go' but trust me, at that stage you have more pressing thoughts and it's all forgotten about as you get on with the real job (no pun intended). When your baby is placed in your arms you forget about all the P's!

The water birth story below has confirmed why I didn't want a water birth

Yep crapped with all 4 of mine. My youngest was the worst, he was 12 days overdue which I used as an excuse to eat curry every night for 7 days on the trot. In the end he came very quickly, I barely made it to the delivery room, and and I exploded shit all over the midwife. She was wiping it off her glasses apparently. She was still surprisingly cheerful and unfussed by it.

@Justgettingbye

The water birth story below has confirmed why I didn't want a water birth

I wonder if people imagine their baby will be born serenely in crystal clear waters? 🤣 The blood, slime, placenta, poo soup must come as a bit of a shock!