Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
General health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Constipation. In bathroom in tears need desperate help

84 replies

constipatedcrying · 11/02/2023 15:49

I'm week post partum and I'm so so constipated. Tmi but I've put a finger up and can feel a huge rock hard poo it's right there but won't come out. I've tried breaking it up or fishing it out and I can't it's too solid. I'm in tears. I've done a glycerol suppository and it made for a few wet farts but the mass is still there and will not come out. I've got family here for the night and I've been upstairs for over an hour trying to deal with this and I'm just in tears and don't know what to do I feel so desperate. I've even tried squatting in the shower over a nappy to see if it would come out easier but no. I'm sitting with my knees on a stool, how the hell do I get this poo out Sad

OP posts:
Rololol · 11/02/2023 16:27

Prune juice! Couple of glasses...wow a week after a c section I was in bits, be warned though it was an explosion when it did come out

MaverickSnoopy · 11/02/2023 16:28

I swear by prune juice. I was once so constipated that I was in agony. 250ml and it shot out 30 minutes later. However, it sounds like you have a blockage. It might take more or it might take something like movicol.

I've also been known to pull it out in bits before. Not nice but needs must.

Caterina99 · 11/02/2023 16:40

Sympathies OP. Been there after DC1. Hopefully it works for you

(After DC2 I was obsessive about keeping regular because of that experience. Not that it helps you now though)

Turmerictolly · 11/02/2023 16:44

Movicol- you can have up to 6 sachets I think - maybe more? It may take a couple of hours but will eventually soften enough to come out.

drinkingcream · 11/02/2023 16:47

Fennel seeds!
Boil in water and drink and / or just eat them.
I really feel for you. Hope you feel better.

Movicol also to soften the poo.

picklemewalnuts · 11/02/2023 16:48

Don't eat anything now- fibre or kiwi or whatever. That will just add to the pressure above. You need lots to drink, drink juices like pineapple, etc.

Is there a pharmacy at tesco? Or a 24 hour one anywhere? You need something to soften the stool.

RainyReadingDay · 11/02/2023 16:49

Flaxseed, prunes (whole or juice), kiwi fruit, beetroot. Any, or all (if desperate) are good natural solutions.

RainbowsLemonDrop · 11/02/2023 16:50

I suffered horrendously when pregnant with constipation and was the same as you the week after birth.

Get a box of enemas from the chemist and use 2. The box tells you not too but I did and it worked an hour and a half later.

Quite frankly, fuck the visitors and go and lay in bed until it works. It is absolutely horrendous and I was actually scared/panicky. I rang 111 and they said if the above doesn't work, then I'd need to go my local NEMS (I imagine to have it taken out by someone else's hand!)

KangarooKenny · 11/02/2023 16:51

This won’t help you right now, but prunes, prunes, prunes !
Start off with about 8 a day u til you are regular, then about 4 a day after that.

BornAgainViper · 11/02/2023 16:52

Squatting is a much better position to go to the toilet in, but you can replicate this by putting a foot stool or stack of books (wrapped in towel for hygiene!) to put your feet on. Keep going with the glycerin suppositories.

picklemewalnuts · 11/02/2023 16:55

The pharmacist will have good ideas. And crouch over a nappy or in the bath. It will come eventually, honest.

Are you using suppositories for the piles? They really help. And cream.

Also be prepared. You may well feel shattered and light headed/faint when it finally happens. It's a vagal nerve thing. You might need a nap.

FixTheBone · 11/02/2023 17:00

For impaction you can have 8 movicol per day....

soddingspiderseason · 11/02/2023 17:05

Movicol and glycerin suppositories. And walking alternating with squatting if you can. Same happened to me, it's just awful. Think it's the morphine based painkillers. It will get sorted. You will feel better xx

ValerieDoonican · 11/02/2023 17:08

I will never understand why maternity wards don't hand out suppositories and a leaflet. This happens so often! (Yes, me too).

Best of luck OP, get some anusol too if you don't already have any.

MoserRothOrangeandAlmond · 11/02/2023 17:09

Sorry for going into detail but did you put the suppository up and around the stool to soften it?
Also an enema would also help! If you 1 week post birth can you contact the hospital or you midwife to get one prescribed?

CalloohCallayFrabjousDay · 11/02/2023 17:11

An enema may work better... I feel for you it's so uncomfortable! When you do manage to clear it, start taking some fybogel daily for a week or so

KaroH · 11/02/2023 17:12

I've been were you are and it truly is horrendous isn't it. I had piles also.

Third degree tear with a 10lb baby and I'd take that labour over that shit everyday.

I don't have anything to add over what has been suggested, just a lot of sympathy.

Paturday · 11/02/2023 17:12

Chugging coffee and coconut water does it for me

mommatoone · 11/02/2023 17:13

Lactulose did wonders for me. I had bad constipation in pregnancy but this really helped.You can get ot over counter. Not expensive ( or wasnt when i used it) . I feel so bad for you OP. Its horrendous. And like others said, warm bath etc. Lots of luck x

LovelyDayz · 11/02/2023 17:14

It's too late for water, water, water. It's so low down that nothing will change it now. You need to deal with it from the bottom. Glycerine suppositories or more ideally an enema.

Get movicol, (also known as laxido) you can buy it over the counter. Keep on with it to keep things soft after you pass this blockage.

Irrelevantdata · 11/02/2023 17:14

You've taken me back 14 years OP, post partum constipation was one of the most horrendous experiences of my life! I had stitches and had lied through my teeth about moving my bowels to get out of hospital and honestly thought they'd stitched me up wrong and I would never shit again so I completely get that slightly traumatised, panicked feeling Blush I ended up getting an enema from a friend who was a midwife and that did work but it sounds like you can get the same thing from the chemist from what PP's have said so please do that, the relief will be indescribable!

DuploMum · 11/02/2023 17:17

Aww I really feel for you. This happened with my first. Not quite as bad. We were back in hospital and I remember pushing my poo so hard I thought I was going rip open. The stuff I got from the doctors did nothing. All I had to say was that mine did just come out and I defo cried but I'm sending so much sympathy. It must be nearly out! Xx

Cassy92 · 11/02/2023 17:17

Warm bath may help.

You're going to have to tell family to leave. This might take a few hours......

friskybivalves · 11/02/2023 17:17

Yes yes to lactulose. I was you. I had a crowd of visitors in my bedroom coojng over the newborn and I was crying in the ensuite, totally trapped in there by a poo that felt like Gibraltar.

If it makes sense, it sometimes helps to stop 'trying'. Don't strain too much. Walk around for a bit. Get lactulose from wherever you can and chug a couple of doses. Lots of warm water to drink. And then lie in the bath. Maybe on your front. Soothing if nothing else. It helped me and also my son, who suffers too.

Twentywisteria · 11/02/2023 17:18

Down a warm glass of water, go for a walk round the block, come back and put in a suppository as high as you can and lie on your left side for 30mins without letting it come out.