I have been eating 9 portions of f&v a day throughout my pregnancy....

[Bibulus]

...and I'm still flipping constipated

Have been supplementing with iron which prob hasn't helped much (even though I'm taking Spatone which is meant to be milder than the pills)

This diet should have me pooping like Gillian McKeith herself. Instead I am spending half my life on the toilet and the other half feeling uncomfortably introspective

Sorry just having a moan!

should have put a poo thread warning at the top

Are you drinking enough tho. You can eat as much fibre as you like but if you are dehydrated you will still be constipated!

Are you drinking enough water? Lots of fibre will cause constipation without water

Am drinking all day, either water or herbal tea or milk. Gave up caffeine at about 20 wks or so. I start every morning with a fruit smoothie with extra water in it. I just don't understand it!

I am wondering whether 9 f&v might actually be too much fibre. i might start juicing and see what that does for me

Drink water, eat breakfast, walk a lot. All works for me!

And how are you managing 9 portions?! I've always had trouble reaching just five - one or two per meal if I'm good, plus a snack!

What are your 9 portions? I find banana is bad for constipation. Wet fruits like apples, grapes and strawberries are better, but I agree with others that water and gentle exercise are best.

I feel your pain though, had chronic constipation in 1st pg.

Do you need to take the iron? If not can you give it up for a week to see if that helps?

I have terrible constipation :( From about 8 weeks, and I'm 18 weeks now. Originally I put it down to the hyperemesis I had and dehydration, also the medication I was taking. But I stopped taking it about 4 weeks ago, and normal service is struggling to resume.
9
Had some horrendous moments, like being stuck in work with half a bowel movement hanging there while the emergency buzzer was going off (midwife!!) and pushing so hard I had both hands on the walls, and lower clothing removed for extra leverage!! Oh my god is all I can say!!

I've been eating tonnes and tonnes of fruit and veg, and drinking loads, so clearly, that isn't doing anything! Easily eating 10 portions a day minimum.

Had to resort to lactulose, and the occasional use of a glycerin suppository or two... and things still aren't normal.

I'm all out of ideas. Other than a proper enema!

Fybogel has helped me this pregnancy.

It's not just the constipation, it's the enormoshites that get me.

Digestion does slow in pregnancy, I think it's partly hormonal - progesterone relaxing smooth muscle. I don't think there is much you can do about that.

I have had to stop drinking orange juice as it gives me diarrhoea. Maybe it would work to make you go. Movicol helped me loads when I was constipated.

Kiwifruit, radishes, apricots, apples and bananas....
Lots and lots more water!!
Walking

That should sort you out!

Oh, sympathy, ladies, I was horribly backed up during pg. Can recommend a massive mono-meal of cherries (I'm talking a pound in a sitting). But TBH the only thing that sorted me out was going into labour. My poor midwife had to do some poo fishing (was in pool). I was unconcerned at the time, but retrospectively

You're not taking Pregnacare are you? Gave me horrific constipation. When I switched to a different brand (Sanatogen fyi) it took a while but everything started moving along a lot better. I also find Floradix a lot kinder on my system than Spatone, but that's probably just me.

I also found that starting the day with a hot water and lemon juice was really helpful. Plus my current favourite snack - steamed broccoli with a lemon and olive oil dressing I've really gone a little weird in this pregnancy.

Oh, and I second cutting down on bananas. And doing lots of walking.

Prunes, maybe? Dates?

Hope you feel better....constipation is rotten. And yes, lots of water.

I've had the opposite - a sudden case of extreme, intense diarrhea that was like I'd had 20 laxatives. It came on in the middle of dinner at a restaurant, I told DH I needed to go home RIGHT NOW, and it lasted for about an hour and then was gone!

prune juice.

Do you get any exercise? A good long walk each day might help.

And muesli seemd to help me, more than the fruit and veg I think.....

Fybogel. if i miss a single day of taking it, ixnay on the itshay basically.

my condolences to you OP...
when i was first pg my mum friend said to me, "congratulations and rest assured you won't be able to crap properly for the next year"

Half a movicol a day from 20 weeks helped me immensely! Do the same for first 3 days. Post birth too. Tis the only way!

You should be eating foods high in insoluble fibre and really whole grains, nuts/seeds, and beans/lentils are the foods that will help with constipation. Even though fruits and vegetables help, other sources of fibre are better than others. Make sure you increase it gradually or it can become worse. You can try ground flaxseed/linseed which is easy to add by sprinkling onto foods (you can find this at Holland and Barrett). Also, I found eating a bit more oil helped as well (like olive oil on salad greens, not fried foods). Hope this helps :).

Magnesium supplement. Works wonders :)