Pregnancy is a transformative and exciting journey. While the anticipation of welcoming a new life can be exciting, it can come with a fair share of challenges.
You’ll likely experience changes in your digestive patterns. Sometimes these can be discomfort and irregularity. It’s well known that pregnancy can change a women’s bowel motility, but have you ever wondered why? Do you wonder if there is anything that you can do to prevent it, or at least help when it does?
In this blog post, we'll explore the reasons behind constipation during pregnancy. We’ll also share some super easy practical tips to help.
Understanding The Connection
Slow bowel movement is not uncommon during pregnancy. It usually occurs in women during the 1st and 2nd trimester of pregnancy. For some, it may be the first time they experience it, which can be overwhelming. It can be a combination of hormonal, physical and lifestyle changes.
Hormones: During pregnancy, women produce higher levels of progesterone hormone. Progesterone plays a very important role during pregnancy. Levels will rise throughout the pregnancy until it reaches its highest level. This is usually not long before labour occurs.
How does all this progesterone affect bowel movements? Studies have shown that progesterone causes bowel muscles to relax. This can cause food and waste to move slower through the colon.
But it's not all about the hormone progesterone. A study showed that an increase in oestrogen inhibits muscle movement in the colon too.
So what does this mean? Rising progesterone and oestrogen levels during pregnancy can induce slow bowel movements.
Physical changes: A woman's body undergoes significant transformation. This accommodates the growth of the baby. As your baby grows, your uterus will expand and take up valuable space usually occupied by the bowel. The physical pressure can lead to interference with its regular activity. This slows bowel movements.
Some women may also exercise less for various reasons during pregnancy. And they can experience more stress than usual too. Both the lack of exercise and increased stress levels can make a substantial impact on digestion.
Dietary supplements: Prenatal vitamins including iron are usually recommended and very beneficial during your pregnancy. They can help both the mother and the baby. They support healthy development and the mother's overall health. Iron is a popular recommended supplement. But some forms of iron may cause sluggish bowels. Make sure you get an iron supplement that is gentle on the gut. Carbonyl iron for example absorbs well and is gentle on digestion.
Diet and hydration: Being pregnant can bring about changes in your preferred foods. You’ll likely be averse to some foods. You might experience cravings for certain foods. Or find some smells or tastes unappealing. Insufficient fibre alongside dietary changes during pregnancy affects bowel regularity. The need for increased fluid intake is also essential for maintaining digestive health.
10 Easy-to-do Tips
Various approaches and lifestyle changes can relieve slow bowel movements. They can also encourage regularity. Here are some practical tips. You don’t have to do them all, so pick a few that you think you can do and incorporate them into your daily routine:
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Exercise – Science says that regular moderate exercise can reduce stress and improve bowel movements. Make sure you do 30 minutes of gentle exercise 3 to 5 times weekly.
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Bowel Habits – Try to maintain healthy bowel habits. Listen to your body and don’t ignore the need to go. Following through with those urges will keep your bowels regular.
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Maintain a high-fibre diet - Incorporating fibre-rich foods into your diet can help promote regular bowel movements. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes are excellent sources of dietary fibre. Aim to include a variety of these foods in every meal. Click on this link to find out more.
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Hydration – It’s common knowledge that drinking plenty of fluids can help digestion. Fluid requirements increase during pregnancy, especially during the 3rd trimester. But it can also be with foods that are high in moisture content. Foods such as yoghurt, soups, milk, stews, fruit and vegetables. You need about 3 litres a day (from food and drinks). Also, try reducing salty foods such as preserved and cured meats and feta cheese. And avoid takeaway foods and they are most often high in salt.
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Bitters – Bitter foods and herbs and help. Such as lemon juice, leafy salad greens, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and dandelion root tea. Bitters stimulate the taste buds promoting digestive function and secretions. This helps with the flow of bile and then bowel motility.
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Meditate – Reduce your stress levels by meditating at least 10 minutes a day. If you are not sure how there are plenty of guided meditations online and many books to learn how.
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Iron supplements – Make sure you use readily absorbed iron such as carbonyl iron. Some forms of iron can harden stools by slowing down digestion and reducing the water load in the stool.
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Phloe Bowel Health – You can take Phloe capsules or chewable tablets during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Phloe contains beneficial fibre, enzymes and prebiotics. These feed healthy bacteria within the digestive system. Taken alongside a healthy diet they gently normalise bowel movements without urgency. Phloe can also help with gas, bloating and digestive discomfort.
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Probiotics - Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that support a healthy gut. Some specific strains of bacteria\ are useful for bowel movements such as Bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 (Lactospore®).
Check out this video by Jane Cronin on how probiotics can help: Phloe Biotics
Pregnancy can be a challenging time for digestion. However we hope you feel like you understand the underlying causes of sluggish bowel a little more and will adopt some of the practical tips. Such as making mindful choices in diet, hydration and exercise. Make a more comfortable and enjoyable pregnancy journey.
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