When pregnancy comes to its logical conclusion, most mothers literally stop sleeping at night. The cause of insomnia is a lot of questions that concern the woman in labor. The expectant mother thinks about whether it will be difficult for her to endure contractions, whether the delivery will be successful and whether the baby will be healthy.
But the main question for many is the date of birth. Often, mothers begin to listen to the slightest changes in their condition and take each symptom as the beginning of the process. And how to relate to such a delicate problem, like diarrhea before childbirth? Is it a harbinger or pathology?
When a sensitive issue is a positive sign
The human body is able to adapt to various conditions, and all physiological processes in it occur for a reason. In particular, diarrhea before childbirth happens for a completely understandable reason.
It turns out that the woman’s body is preparing for the passage of the child’s body through the small pelvis. If the baby’s head has already lowered, tremendous pressure on the organs occurs and the body begins to throw out excess from itself to facilitate the process of the forthcoming birth.
True symptoms
Diarrhea, which precedes the birth of a child, occurs up to 5-6 times a day. Moreover, a woman rarely feels weakness, because such diarrhea should not be accompanied by dehydration.
Fecal masses do not emit a pungent odor, they are not too plentiful and without foam. Often diarrhea is accompanied by gases and cramps of the uterus. False contractions often occur , sometimes turning into real labor. After all, the intestines of the expectant mother were cleaned, which means that nothing will interfere with the birth process.
When is the birth?
One sign that diarrhea is a faithful harbinger is its short duration. If a delicate problem happened for no apparent reason and stopped without assistance, it is most likely harmless diarrhea before giving birth. How many days can this happen? Experts say that for a healthy woman, such a harbinger indicates that in a day or two the baby will be born.
It is sometimes difficult to determine how many days diarrhea begins before childbirth. Such a sign is, rather, an indirect precursor, and various factors are capable of influencing it. Affects the age of the woman in childbirth, the state of her health, individual physiological characteristics. If the birth is second or subsequent, then diarrhea may not occur at all.
If the harbinger is absent
A clean intestine helps the quality of labor. In addition, the presence of feces can confuse a woman in labor and distract her from such an important process, not to mention the possible discomfort. Therefore, in the hospital before giving birth, they often help to empty the intestines. For this, a woman is given special harmless candles or an enema.
There are also situations when diarrhea did not happen, and a woman in childbirth urgently entered the hospital. What if the doctors do not have time to carry out the necessary procedures? This is not a cause for concern, since by the time of the attempt or during them bowel movement will nevertheless occur. A woman in labor should not be embarrassed, trying to impede the natural process. Doctors have not seen this, and it is difficult to surprise them with such a spectacle.
Why is it really important to listen to the body?
No wonder the expectant mother worries about whether diarrhea before childbirth always means approaching the birth of a baby. The fact is that not always loose stools are a positive sign. It is possible that diarrhea was the result of poisoning or another serious and dangerous disease.
Can there be diarrhea before giving birth green? Doctors warn that such a color of feces, especially in combination with vomiting, can be an alarming bell. Then the expectant mother will need hospitalization.
If diarrhea before childbirth is yellow, foamy and with a pungent odor, self-medication is also not recommended. It is best to call an ambulance and trust the specialists, otherwise the consequences may be the most unpredictable. For example, dehydration, which will result in repeated loose stools, will entail irreversible processes in the body of both the mother and the baby.
What if diarrhea occurs before childbirth?
The duty of a future mother is to listen to her body and respond in time to any changes that seem pathological.
Even if the mother knows that there is diarrhea before childbirth, and most often it turns out to be the norm, do not ignore your condition. And positive symptoms can be very unpleasant, and to avoid possible consequences, mom should:
- Move less and be more horizontal, rest and relax.
- Do not lean on heavy food, prefer easily digestible snacks. Fixing food will give a positive effect.
- Drink more plain water to avoid dehydration.
- Try not to leave the house, avoid crowded places.
After childbirth
Not always a delicate problem visits a woman before giving birth. And if diarrhea before childbirth is rather the norm, then after them there should definitely not be diarrhea.
However, this is a fairly common situation, the cause of which is sometimes an enema before childbirth or unusual hospital food. Such diarrhea is likely to lead to dehydration, so the mother needs extreme attention to the body, since it is in a weakened state.
The package of measures in this situation boils down to the following:
- Obstruction of the dehydration of the body, restoration of water-salt balance.
- Taking medications to restore intestinal microflora.
It is possible to provide first aid to a young mother independently, you just need to listen to the first advice. You can replenish the level of fluid in the body with a drink of plenty. You can drink both plain water and fruit drinks with compotes. It’s faster if drinks are close to body temperature. According to doctors, the fluid is absorbed faster by the body.
The ideal option is to purchase bags at the nearest pharmacy with the words "Rehydron." Suitable drug "Hydrovit" or any other. By the way, with the advent of the baby, such funds should become permanent "inhabitants" of the first-aid kit.
Medication
Can drugs be used on their own to normalize the intestinal and stomach microflora ? If the mother does not want to inadvertently harm herself and the baby whom she is feeding, she should trust the advice of a specialist. The doctor will select the right medicine, taking into account the fact that mom is in lactation.
If diarrhea after childbirth was provoked by a sparing diet of the mother, who is afraid to spoil the milk, then it is better to simply adjust her diet. The pediatrician, who will definitely visit the new patient, will gladly give recommendations on healthy and harmless nutrition for a nursing woman.