What I Wish I Had Known (the Gross Stuff)
January 13, 2015
We asked women to share with us the advice they wished they had received while they were pregnant. Their comments were insightful and often a little humorous. This month’s blog post will focus on the “horror stories” – the very worst things that no one ever tells you about birth and babies (and excrement).
Yes, it’s true, and it’s completely normal. During delivery, the muscles you use to push your baby are the very same muscles you use to poop. Most women will poop (and/or pee) during labor. You can’t do anything to prevent it from happening, so don’t worry about it! The doctors and nurses in the labor room have seen it before and they’ll clean it up.1
Here’s another messy thing you may not know about delivery: you have to deliver the placenta. After the baby is delivered, you’ll continue to have contractions. The placenta is usually delivered a few minutes later (if you deliver by C-section, the doctor will remove the placenta while delivering the baby). This whole process is messy (maybe a better word is “gory”?) because the placenta is filled with several ounces of blood, which will typically gush out when it is delivered.3
With all the blood, urine, and excrement in the delivery room, you might wonder why anyone would ever want to go through all this. What you have to understand is that the joy of bringing a beautiful new life into the world makes it all worthwhile.
But before we get too distracted by the miracle of life, let’s get back to topic of poo with a bonus tip from a dad:
Do you have a horror story you want to share? Maybe you have some advice you’d like to pass along? Feel free to leave a comment here on our blog or on our Facebook page. We’d love to share your wisdom and stories.
