Are you feeling pregnancy blues because of several discomforts you are facing? Always remember this too shall pass and these discomforts will be evaporated like a bubble once you’ll hold your baby in your arms. One such discomfort that is as common in pregnancy as getting mood swings is constipation during pregnancy.
Although constipation during pregnancy is a very unpleasant experience and can get very painful if not treated, its treatment is also not a very big deal. Having constipation during pregnancy means your bowel movements are not normal.
If you haven’t pooped for a day or two just don’t take it easy and try to get your bowel movement pattern fixed as soon as possible. You get constipated when your body can’t expel the extra food and it gets stuck in the digestive tract. Constipation is not just related to pregnancy, it can happen to anyone at any time but it’s more common in pregnancy due to certain reasons that we will explain below.
Causes
Pregnancy can cause constipation because of many reasons. Some of them you can control but some you can’t even control and you just have to wait until you deliver your baby and get your body to function normally again. The most familiar reasons for constipation during pregnancy are:
Hormonal changes
As soon as you get pregnant your normal production of hormones changes. Hormones play the most vital role to carry out a successful pregnancy. As the body experiences changes in its hormone production, many other functions that get disturbed simultaneously.
Right after your conception, your body starts producing progesterone in a bulk. Progesterone helps in the progress of the pregnancy. At the same time, it relaxes your intestine and slows down the movement of stool through the bowel. It happens so that colon gets more time and absorbs as much fluid from the stool as possible. This slower procession makes the stool harder and it gets tough for the body to expel it. This hormonal change causes constipation during pregnancy.
Growing fetus
As your baby keeps on growing it makes the uterus heavy which is then pushed upwards. This crowd in the abdomen puts pressure on the organs and squeezes them a little. This extra weight and pressure make it harder for a bowel movement to get out of the body.
Prenatal vitamins
If you are pregnant you must be sort of feeding on the vitamins. During pregnancy, our body needs an extra dose of vitamins that can’t be fulfilled through food only. The most important vitamin we take during pregnancy is iron. Iron deficiency can cause serious complications in the baby and the mother as well, so never ever skip on your iron supplements. The extra iron you take during pregnancy also hardens the stool and can even change its color to black or dark green.
Diet and lifestyle
Another major factor that plays a huge role to cause constipation during pregnancy is diet and your living lifestyle. If you are constantly munching on junk food or food that is not balanced it can also cause constipation during pregnancy. Lack of fluid and less fiber intake also aggravates the process of constipation.
Symptoms
Now as you know the causes of constipation during pregnancy, we will jump to the next thing that you should know i.e. symptoms of constipation. Keep on scrolling to know them:
- You are pooping twice or thrice a week.
- Even when you poop you feel pain and your tummy still feels bloated.
- Your poop is very hard and it may have signs of blood in it.
Always remember never ever to take constipation easy especially during your pregnancy because if it gets prolonged it can be very troublesome and even can cause harm to the fetus.
Interested to know how you can treat constipation during pregnancy? Keep on reading.
Remedial measure
Constipation can be treated at home using some tried and tested remedial measures or you can always choose to go to your physician if your problem is still left untreated. Some of the at-home try remedies are:
- Eat food rich in fiber to meet the daily needs of fiber in your body. Fruits, vegetables especially green leafy vegetables, peas, whole grains, and lentils are rich in fiber content.
- Always keep a strict check on the quantity of fluid you are taking in. Make sure you drink 8 to 12 glasses of water and fresh juices in a day. The more you drink water easier it will become for your body to pass out stool from the body.
- Try to indulge yourself in moderate exercise or walk daily for 15 to 30 minutes.
- You can take stool softeners that are generally considered safe during pregnancy.
- If any of the above measures don’t work for you, always consult your physician. Your doctor can always better guide you and give you medicines that work best for you and your baby.
Final Word
Pregnancy can cause constipation and its severity varies from person to person. What you need to do is never leave it untreated. It can result in serious consequences and can even harm your baby.
