The First “Poop” After Baby

I know it’s scary.  You just had a baby, your belly is sore, your Vajayjay is sore and now you have to Poop?!?!  Are you kidding me?  There are a few things you can do to make the first poop and all the ones after a little easier.  The first thing to do is to breathe.  Breathe and slow the fear, anxiety and nervousness down.  Avoiding a bowel movement can make the situation worse and could lead to more pain and discomfort. Your body and the tissues of your abdomen and pelvic floor went through tremendous change and trauma with your pregnancy and delivery.  By using the treatment principle of RICE you can start to heal the injured tissue.  RICE stands for Rest Ice Compression and Elevation.  RICE works best in the acute stage of healing.  In other words, right after an injury occurs.   If you were an athlete who had an acute injury you would rest, use ice, compression and elevation in the short term to treat your injury.  Bottom line you would allow time for your body to recover and you would rehab the injured body part back to health.  Why is recovering after childbirth any different?  Using ice, gentle compression and remembering to put your feet up and rest will help the tissues heal which will help make bowel movements less painful.  RICE for the pelvic floor can be done by resting as much as possible, applying ice to the perineum with the gentle compression of an undergarment or sitting on the ice and elevating your feet when possible.

Ok, you are practicing RICE.  What else can you do?   Avoiding a bowel movement can make the stool hard.  Hard stool is more painful to pass.   By keeping the stool consistency softer you will have less pain.  Hydrate!  Water intake is important as well as nutrition.  Nutritionally, you want to try your best to eat whole foods.  Try to limit packaged food, sugar and white flour these foods tend to slow the digestive system which can lead to constipation and hard stools.  Some ways to ensure you are getting good nutrition in the early days of the postpartum period is to prep and freeze meals prior to delivery. 

Don’t wipe! Dab and use a peri bottle.  Wiping can be irritating to the skin, using a peri bottle to clean after a bowel movement is gentle and will help in healing.  Also, if you have hemorrhoids talk to your medical provider about soothing treatments you can use such as Tucks pads, aloe and/or coconut oil.    

And last but not least! Posture! Yes, posture with bowel movements is important.  Try your best to elevate your feet, lean forward and rest your elbows on your knees.  Remember, not to hold your breath and push down.   Try to open your jaw, take relaxing breaths and ever so gently push down.

A pelvic physical therapist can help you navigate through the perinatal period and help you rehab your pelvic floor after a pregnancy.