Potentially stupid question about constipation and straining...

[MsHedgehog]

Hi all!

I’m 26 weeks and am quite constipated. It’s nothing uncomfortable, but just means my stool is type 1 on the stool chart.

I suffer from bowel incontinence so my quality of life is actually a lot better when I’m constipated, so in a way it works well for me. The issue I have is that I sometimes need to strain.

My sphincter muscles are damaged, which means I don’t have the snap shut muscles that everyone has. It means that my stool, especially with it being type 1, will sometimes just sit in the anal canal and so I need to strain to push it out.

Time for the stupid question - I worry that I may somehow push out my cervix or start premature labour by straining when I’m doing a poo. Is that a thing I need to be worried about...?

That won't happen. Don't worry.

33 weeks here ive been unable to poo for the last week so called midwife cos had same concerns and was given lactulose is this a soloution for u maybe? Hope that helps and all goes well.

Thank you so much! It was a bit of a random thought and I thought it’s silly but did get a bit concerned!

@MamaToBeOMG thanks for the tip! The only issue is my quality of life is so much better when my stool is hard so if I take anything to soften my stool just slightly, I can expect to end up spending ages on the loo (around an hour at a time several times a day) and stained underwear, etc. So being constipated actually makes my life easier!