What to Eat Before Labor to Avoid Pooping?

Preparing yourself for your labor is like preparing for the hardest workout. Hence you need proper nutrition for your labor but there is also a question that comes up to your mind “What to eat before labor to avoid pooping?”

Your pregnancy diet¹ should be healthy and acceptable. Eating healthily will result in a healthy baby. Now, when the labor time comes, you must have packed a bag with necessary stuff like tiny clothes for your child. But is this enough? Later on, you might be wondering what to eat before labor to avoid pooping.

Here you will read everything about what to eat before labor to avoid pooping. Before that, there are some necessary factors that you should understand.

1. What is Labor?

Labor is another name for childbirth. Labor induction is a process where your baby leaves your womb when you push while giving birth.

Your cervix is the opening of the uterus, once your labor starts your cervix opens. There are three stages of labor: early labor, active labor and transition to stage two of labor.

2. Why do You Poop During Labor?

Pooping during labor is entirely normal, many women undergo this. Many women go through discomfort to poop at the time of induction thinking about the doctor and nurses. In fact, a little poop occurs during labor, which is entirely ordinary for doctors. Medical staff in the delivery room is already prepared because generally, poop during induction happens.

There are various reasons, why women poop during labor, which is entirely natural and not a matter of concern.

When you push a baby down, it is common for a woman to feel like having a bowel. Due to muscles in your uterus contract and push the baby out, so anything you feel will ease out. Therefore poop during labor induction happens along the way.

There are movements at the time of labor which can change the position of your baby while you try to push. Change in the position of your baby’s head results in putting pressure on your rectum. Therefore, it is natural to poop during labor induction.

Your muscles of the uterus and rectum lose at the time of labor and this causes pre-labor diarrhea.

3. Can You Avoid Pooping?

Scientifically, there is a way to stop pooping but it turns out that this process is not beneficial. Enemas are used to stimulate to vacate your bowel. Later on, it is found that this method didn’t reduce infection and women use to undergo discomfort.

Another method is castor oil, which is also not recommended. Earlier castor oil was used to clear everything out of your system but later on, it was found that this caused pain and infection in the mother’s body.

Practically, there are ways to stop pooping while delivering a baby. This includes your diet options before labor.

There are some new mothers, who don’t want to ruin their birth experience because of the poop. But still, you can experience your childbirth by keeping that thought aside because pooping during labor is completely normal.

4. What to Eat Before Labor to Avoid Pooping?

This is a general question if you want to avoid pooping when labor is happening. Let’s look at the healthy and best foods that you should add to your diet list to lessen the risk of pooping.

4.1. Fiber Rich Foods

During your pregnancy, adding fiber-rich foods to your diet keeps you at bay. It decreases the chances of constipation and prevents pooping during labor.

Fiber-rich foods include fruits, vegetables and breakfast whole grains. Fiber intake in your body during pregnancy has many benefits. It benefits your bowel movement but at the same time, also reduces the risk of high blood pressure during pregnancy.

20 to 30 grams of foods high in fiber like bananas, broccoli, and almonds prevent constipation and bowel movement. Hence, fiber intake before labor will help you to avoid pooping.

4.2. Light Meals

Your cravings during pregnancy can change so rapidly. It will want you to eat heavy meals like red meat or steak but pre-labor foods should be light and healthy.

For your comfortable delivery, make sure to eat light meals which your body can digest easily. Go for foods rich in protein, and light soups before labor to avoid pooping. This also prevents bloating and can solve your digestive issues to not worry you.

4.3. What will Keep You Stay Hydrated?

Water is the treatment of every pain in your body, therefore you should always drink enough water.

Drinking 8-10 glasses of water will help you digest and will prevent constipation and stools. Therefore, drinking plenty of water gives a positive impact on your body.

You should also add watermelon, cucumbers, fruit juice, and coconut water to your list to keep your body stay hydrated.

4.4. Snacks

Easily digestible snacks for labor will boost your strength. You should have nutritional and easy-to-digest snacks. Additionally, complex carbohydrates with sufficient amounts of protein will help your blood sugar level at bay.

Here are some healthy snacks that are good for the digestive system to consume before labor and give you the strength to push a baby.

• Fruits like Avocados, bananas, melons, berries, strawberries and apples are good for the digestive system.
• Whole grains with nut butter can prevent pooping and bowel movements.
• Vegetables like carrots, cucumber is the healthy option.
• Nuts and seeds are rich in fiber, therefore it will not only prevent your bowel movements but will also give you stamina for pushing a baby.
• Dried fruit intake is also good for your digestive organ and will give you nutrition.
• Oats and granola bars are considerable for strength and are rich in protein.
• Soups are also considerable and can be easy to absorb to prevent constipation.
• Ice lollies or ice cream are also suggested to keep you stay hydrated.
• Yogurt is also good for a healthy gut, you can add sliced fruit to it as well.

5. What are the Foods to Avoid Before Labor?

Once you get to know what to eat before labor to avoid poop, it is also necessary to know what to not eat before labor.

Here are some of the foods that you should avoid before labor and not add to your list even if you crave them.

5.1. Fatty Foods

Foods that are high in fats can make your digestive system slow and increase the risk of constipation. These foods include meat or packaged item which will upset your stomach and result in tough labor. Therefore, say no to fatty foods and consume low-fat foods.

5.2. Foods that Produce Gas

Foods like onion, cabbage or other gas-producing foods will result in bloating in your stomach. These foods can cause discomfort at the time of delivery later.

You should also avoid carbonated drinks before labor because carbonated drinks also produce gas.

5.3. Sugary Foods

Foods like chocolates will result in energy levels down soon. However, it is said that chocolates give strength, but always remember as soon as it gives strength it also will reduce it soon. Therefore, consumption of chocolates before labor should be avoided.

Energy drinks, caffeine should also be avoided because they cause discomfort during labor.

5.4. Spicy Foods

Spicy foods can affect your digestive organ in a highly negative way which can worry you. If you consume spicy foods before delivery, it will not only affect your bloating but also leads to stools. Eating spicy foods will also make it difficult to push the baby.

Therefore, avoid consuming spicy and oily foods at the time of labor.

6. Is it Okay to have Food during Labor?

Generally, your doctors recommend you to stay away from foods during childbirth if you are going for surgery to deliver your baby. Eating heavy meals is likely to enter the windpipe when you are unconscious.

Aspiration arises when food enters your lungs. Accordingly, women who have to go through general anaesthesia had a risk of aspiration. This results in an inflammatory reaction to the life or even death of a mother and a baby.

Final Words

After getting the understanding of what to eat before labor to avoid poop, make sure to keep yourself healthy and stay hydrated. To have delicious food is good for your taste bud, but you should also make sure to eat healthily. Especially when you know you are giving birth to a baby, therefore eat healthy before giving birth.

Eating healthy is fortunate for the mother and baby both. This guidance is not just to stop you from pooping but also to keep you stay hydrated and perfectly fit even after the delivery.

Always remember to enjoy and have a fun experience during your pregnancy and childbirth both. Do not just get into the whole thing to stop you from pooping during labor. This moment is precious so make it memorable not only for yourself but also for your partner.

Women generally have fear and discomfort when pooping during labor is happening but they need to know that pooping during labor is completely natural. Therefore, it is okay to take some measures before labor but still, if the results are not positive, there is nothing to be ashamed of.

Since pooping is normal during labor therefore it is nothing to be worried about. If you maintain your diet healthily and stay hydrated by following the guidance of your doctor, there is a possibility to have a better experience.

Here is a tip that you should follow, always concern your healthcare to know about your diet. Eat the meals prescribed by your doctor from the very early stages of pregnancy.

FAQs

Q1. Is there any assurance that a pregnant lady will not poop during labor by eating specific foods?

Remember that pooping at the time of labor is so natural and the medical staff is already ready for it. Therefore, you should not concern much about this. Actually, there is no guarantee that you don’t poop, instead, it just prevents and controls your bowel movements which result in minimising the chance of pooping during labor.

Q2. Is it normal to poop during labor?

The answer is surely yes!

There is nothing to be concerned about it since the medical team is always prepared for it. This is because they know it is so normal for pregnant women to poop at the time of delivery. Therefore, enjoy your experience and welcome a new soul into this world, happily.

Q3. What can I eat for painless delivery?

Eating healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains or dairy products is good for your gut. Therefore, consume foods rich in vitamins and stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water.

1. Jackson, A. A., & Robinson, S. M. (2001). Dietary guidelines for pregnancy: a review of current evidence. Public Health Nutrition, 4(2b), 625-630. ↩︎

Last Updated on March 21, 2024 by riyaspeaks