Dealing with Diarrhea during Pregnancy

  1. Women who have spent their whole lives being completely regular suddenly find they are constipated, nauseous, or suffer from diarrhea.

Although constipation is probably more common in most pregnancies,pregnancy diarrheaoccurs all too often.  In fact, you may frequently find that yourstool during pregnancywill alternate between various extremes.  One of the best ways to manage constipation is to consume more fiber; however, it is sometimes difficult to find the right balance and suddenly adding a lot of fiber to your diet can have the reverse effect, leading topregnancy diarrhea.  As unpleasant as it is, there are some things you can do to minimize the discomfort.

If you observe that yourstool during pregnancyis drastically different from a short time before, it might be helpful to keep track of what you ate.Pregnancy diarrheacan also be affected by other factors, such as stress, so it isn’t always necessarily the food you are eating.  Chances are though, that foods you normally consumed before your pregnancy may now impact your body in completely new and unexpected ways.  If constipation and diarrhea become regular problems, it might be useful to keep a food diary for a few weeks to see if you can detect any patterns.

A few things to keep in mind when dealing withpregnancy diarrheais to avoid any foods that are typical causes of severe diarrhea.  Make sure that any meat you consume is fresh and has been thoroughly cooked.  The same is true of eggs.  Under no circumstances should you consume raw eggs while pregnant.  While things like salmonella and E coli are serious enough while you’re in normal health, they become far more dangerous if they should lead topregnancy diarrhea. A very sever bout could bring on pre-term labor, or even a miscarriage.

It might take a little experimentation, but you will probably find that your body best responds to a balanced diet.  It’s quite normal for yourstool during pregnancyto be somewhat different from what you are accustomed to.  If you find yourself constipated, add fiber and fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet.  However, and excess of these can lead to diarrhea, so you may need to adjust the amounts or how often you consume these foods.

While bouts of diarrhea are especially unpleasant during a pregnancy, they are usually fairly easy to deal with.  Be sure to remove as much stress as possible from your life, and pay attention to what you eat.  These are key in keeping you and your baby healthy.