What it is
If you can't poop pregnant, or you have piles, the older word for hemorrhoids, you are in good company. Progesterone slows the gut, so stool moves slowly and dries out. Iron in prenatal vitamins adds to it. Hemorrhoids are swollen veins around the anus. The uterus presses on the veins there, and straining makes it worse. Up to 4 in 10 pregnant women get each of these.
What's typical
Constipation can start in the first trimester and often gets worse later. Hemorrhoids tend to arrive in the third trimester or right after birth. They itch, ache, and may leave bright red blood on the paper. Both usually ease after birth.
What's known
ACOG lists fiber, fluid, and movement first, then fiber supplements and stool softeners if needed. Some iron forms are gentler than others, which is a fair question for your provider. Warm sitz baths and witch hazel pads are widely used.
What helps
- Water through the day, and more if you add fiber. Fiber without water makes it worse.
- Fruit with skin, beans, oats, prunes, kiwi, and chia all move things along.
- Put your feet on a low stool on the toilet. It cuts the strain.
- For hemorrhoids: a warm shallow bath, a cold pack wrapped in cloth, and lying on your side.
When to call someone
- Nowsevere belly pain with no stool or gas for more than a day, or heavy rectal bleeding.
- Todaya hemorrhoid that is very painful, hard, and purple, which may be a clot a provider can ease.
- At your next visitconstipation the basics do not help, or bleeding that keeps happening.
Who helps
Tools: Postpartum Meal Planner
Related
- The first poop, constipation, and hemorrhoids after birthPostpartum: Your Body
- Iron-rich foods and how to absorb themPregnancy: Eating
- Drinking enough waterPregnancy: Eating
- Healing a tear or stitchesPostpartum: Your Body
What mothers here say
No one has posted under this topic yet. The first experience here will help the next mother who searches for it at 2 a.m.
Experiences and questions are their authors' own, not reviewed advice. The topic's steward lists the ones that help most in a credited digest once there is one. Unusual experiences stay, with a note.
Sources
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists — Patient FAQ on problems of the digestive system during pregnancy
- NHS — Piles (haemorrhoids) in pregnancy
Sources are named, not yet linked. The steward verifies each one and adds the link.
Steward this topic
Birthworkers listed in our directory can claim a topic, verify its sources, and curate what mothers share here. Your name and credential go at the top of the page. Takes about an hour the first time.
Find your directory page