Waiting to poop after giving birth is like anticipating the birth all over again. And the idea of pushing when everything is swollen, sore, and tender can cause some serious anxiety. Sometimes it can take a day or so, and for others, it can be several days before the big event happens. So, how can we make it a better experience than a constipated battle that we’re half heartedly forcing ourselves into? By going back to the basics.
- 💦 Drink 1 gallon of warm or room temperature water spread throughout your day. If you can stomach it, begin your morning with a warm glass of water before you eat anything. Warm water stimulates digestion whereas cold water can literally “freeze” our digestive tract, causing the muscles and soft tissues to constrict. Drinking warm or room temperature water not only encourages the absorption of your food and helps organs function efficiently, but helps you produce breast milk for your baby. If you can supplement a quart or two of water with bone broth immediately postpartum, that’ll help your digestive tract even more and it’ll help build back your energy.
- 👨🏼🦳 Eat prunes. Yes, the kind your grandfather eats religiously every day. Two prunes a day is ideal. I’d start as soon as you can while pregnant instead of waiting until you’ve given birth.
- 💊 Magnesium citrate, either pill or liquid, is an incredible supplement to take at night that not only helps soften stools, but is known to help improve mood and sleep. If you have high blood pressure, talk to your doctor to see if it’s safe for you.
- 🍑 Anal massage in the shower. Yes, it works. Why? It helps you consciously learn how to relax your anal muscles to allow for stools to pass with ease. Desperate enough to start? Imagine your anal sphincter is a clock, with 12 o’clock nearest your perineum and 6 o’clock just above your tail bone. Breathe into your belly so it expands and gently insert your finger (dipped in olive oil) into your anus just up to your first knuckle. Gently hook your finger and slightly pull your finger down and away at the 4 o’clock mark until you feel a slight pull. Breathe and hold it there until you feel your muscle relax. Repeat for 5 o’clock through 8 o’clock. This all should only take a little more than five minutes. I like doing this in the shower because warm water is really relaxing, and everything is getting clean anyway.
- 💩 Use proper pelvic floor science to poop with courage. What’s the proper way to poop? It might not be what you think. Instead of holding your breath and pushing, which constricts the muscles and ultimately creates less room, we’re recommending relaxing and breathing. First, get a squatty potty or pile some old magazines around the toilet to put your feet on so your knees are higher than your hips. This creates ROOM! Inhale into your stomach and push your belly out slightly while imagining your tailbone is expanding down and out. While this takes some practice, you’ll notice your stools come out with ease, and with much less effort, strain and pain, than pushing. If you really want to learn how to properly poop we highly recommend Asheville Holistic Physical Therapy’s Save Your Vagina class! You’ll learn how to pee, poop, and even push with ease!
Pooping after birthing a baby can be really daunting, but we know you’ve got this. Here’s to pooping with courage.🥂💩
