Diarrhea During Pregnancy

Contents:

• How to Diagnose Diarrhea
• Is Diarrhea Dangerous During the Pregnancy?
• Why is there Diarrhea During Pregnancy
• How Can Be Diarrhea Treated During Pregnancy
• Folk Medicine During Diarrhea
• What to Eat During Diarrhea
• Preventing Diarrhea During Pregnancy

Diarrhea and Pregnancy

Waiting for a baby is a happy period for every woman. Preparing of a baby’s room, buying clothes, toys for the baby and other pleasant cares, connected with delivering the baby, will be remembered for the whole life. However, there is reverse of the medal. During the pregnancy the woman’s body becomes vulnerable and starts to act “strangely”.

Physiological and hormonal changes, weakened immune system have effects on it. Moreover, a woman being pregnant, instead of waiting for a soon meeting with a baby, have to suffer from different “surprises” of her body. A frequent “guest” can be diarrhea. Is it normal for a pregnant woman? On the other hand, should a woman have a doctor’s consultation immediately?

How to Diagnose Diarrhea

Diarrhea is a digestive disorder could be “recognized” very easily. It is usually has pain in belly, urgent feeling that you need to have bowel movement, and changed stool (can be loose, watery or foamy). In general, with the help of diarrhea the body “tells its opinion” about the hormonal changes, different viral infections, allergens and tocsins.

Usually diarrhea comes together with such symptoms:

• fever;
• nausea or vomiting;
• flatulence abdomen pain;
• headache;
• weakness or asthenia, chills.

You should not be worry about your or fetus’s health, if the diarrhea is mild. As a rule, this disorder lasts no longer, than ten days and does not effect on normal pregnancy development. However, is diarrhea always just a reaction of body on “special” physiology of a pregnant woman? There are a few “wake-up calls” which make it clear that you should see a health care provider.

There are:

• mucus or signs of blood in diarrhea;
• diarrhea lasts for a long time, at the same time there is vomiting and fever;
• stools that are black, and accompanied by dizziness and weakness.

You should react on these symptoms immediately. Possibly, it can be worsening of stomach ulcer or internal bleeding. Do not put off the specialist’s consultation.

Is Diarrhea Dangerous During the Pregnancy?

The risk level for woman depends upon nature of diarrhea. Do not worry if the diarrhea is not continual, slight and is accompanied by classical signs of toxicities. Diarrhea, appeared just before the upcoming delivery, should not cause alarm: the body does self-cleaning with the help of diarrhea. However, during early period of pregnancy the intensive diarrhea can increase the uterus tone and provoke the miscarriage.

As viruses and bacteria, which cause the diarrhea, are in the bowel, they cannot be harmful for the fetus’s development. However, there are exceptions. The cases of acute intoxication should be noted, as it can be very harmful for a woman’s health, which in its turn can cause ingress of dangerous for development toxins directly to the fetus. That is why a woman must control her nutrition, especially when using such “risky” products as mushrooms. However, if the intoxication is not acute, there is no threat to the health and life of future baby.

The main risk during diarrhea is dehydration. However, this can happen only if the diarrhea is severe. When a woman visits bathroom more than 5 times a day, there is a risk of disturbance of electrolyte balance, which in its tern “provides” faults in work of the whole body. For the future baby lack of mineral substances and vitamins is negative: this lack can no provide the normal development. Severe cases of dehydration can be the reasons of different defects or even miscarriages. How can we protect ourselves from this problem? First, it is necessary to tell the symptoms of dehydration.

There are:

• dry mouth;
• dark urine, less frequent than usual urination;
• thirst;
• dizziness;
• sometimes sleepiness, fever, irritability.

The main measure during dehydration is prevention of excessive loss of liquid in the body and regular its replacement. So for a pregnant woman dangerous is only prolonged severe diarrhea. In most cases if the diarrhea is mild, there is no risk for woman and fetus's health. However, if there is a slight hesitation about state of health, you should consult a doctor immediately.

Why is There Diarrhea During Pregnancy

There are many reasons of appearing of diarrhea during pregnancy. At the beginning of a pregnancy diarrhea is a sign of hormone changes in the body. If this disorder “catches” a woman at late period of pregnancy, it can be a sign of upcoming delivery. Diarrhea on the 37th week or later shows the infant’s delivery is near at hand.

Nevertheless, there are other reasons of diarrhea, not connected with the pregnancy directly:

• diseases of the intestines and gastrointestinal tract (irritable bowel syndrome, pancreatitis, etc.);
• wrong nutrition which has cased disorder of gut flora;
• anxiety disorders;
• disorder of digestive system;
• parasites;
• inflectional diseases (dysentery, botulism, salmonella and etc.);
• organism’s inability to produce necessary ferments.

Methods of treatment of diarrhea depends upon its reasons.

Diarrhea During Pregnancy: What to Do

Pregnancy makes woman be very careful to her health. That is why treatment of diarrhea must be chosen carefully. First, you must find out the reason of disorder. If the diarrhea is an attendant symptom of a disease, so you can use the medicines. In other cases, you can use folk medicine and try the diet.

How Can be Diarrhea Treated During Pregnancy

Ideally, a doctor should prescribe the treatment for a pregnant woman. However, if you cannot get the doctor’s consultation, you can take safe for a woman medicine on your own.

There are several:

• rehydron;
• smecta;
• activated cordon;
• enterosgel.

It is important to understand that you can take this medicine only after careful study of the instruction, and only if your case is mild and diarrhea does not give much trouble. In severe cases, described earlier, self-treatment is not recommended.

Folk Medicine During Diarrhea

Approved folk medicine can treat diarrhea successfully. However, you cannot use all the recipes, because it is better not to use self-made medicine during pregnancy.

There are some safe medicine:

• mix 1 teaspoon of starch in a half of glass of water. Drink a glass once a day;
• prepare decoction of blackberries’ leaves. Drink 3 tablespoons a day;
• fill up 1 tablespoon of pomegranate’s peel with hot water. When the decoction is ready, you can drink it as tea;
• boil 1 tablespoon of walnuts’ leaves in two glasses of water for 20 minutes. Then leave the decoction for 30 minutes to get ready. After that, drink 1 tablespoon 3 times a day;
• cook bilberries kissel. Drink it twice a day.

If a pregnant woman understands that the reasons of her diarrhea are emotional problems and psychotic decompensation, it is better to take medicine, which has calming effect. For example, lion’s-ear or mint decoction.

What to Eat During Diarrhea. What is Allowed for Pregnant Women

Best of all at the beginning of diarrhea drink much water. Drinking water, strong tea, and fruit drinks and fatless broth are right for this case. It will help not only to “relieve” the body, but it will prevent the dehydration. If it is too difficult to refuse from food, so you can vary your nutrition with white bread croutons.

Next day you can allow yourself “more” and add to your menu tasteless cereals. It is very healthy to eat rice or oatmeal porridge during diarrhea. Rice broth helps to treat diarrhea it promote to form the stool. Because of presence of covering substance, this drink helps to protect bowel wall from influence of gastric acid and relieve the irritation.

It is very easy to cook:

• take 1 teaspoon of rice for 0.5 l of water;
• boil 40 minutes on low heat;
• filter the broth off.

You should drink one fourth of a glass every 3 hours. It is better to alternate it with small amount of rice porridge.

There is “prohibited” food during diarrhea:

• soda water, fruit juice3, coffee;
• meat, milk products, fresh fruit;
• fat, spicy and salty food.

Preventing Diarrhea During Pregnancy

Women, who have experienced all “delights” of diarrhea during pregnancy, consider that it is better to follow some simple rules, than suffer from diarrhea. How can you prevent diarrhea?

1. Remember personal cleanliness.
2. Take vitamins for pregnant women.
3. Eat more fresh and healthy food.
4. Eat only at home, refuse to eat in cafes and restaurants with doubtful cuisine.

Diarrhea during pregnancy can become a real test. All is well that ends well. In addition, if you take simple measures to solve the problem of diarrhea, you will be able to enjoy the waiting of baby birth. Take care!

Video: Diarrhea while pregnant.