Diarrhea During Pregnancy: Symptoms, Causes &, Treatment

The expectation in the case of pregnancy may be a joyful period for a woman. Preparing the nursery, buying clothes and toys for the baby, and other pleasant chores associated with the completion of the family, stay in memories for a lifetime. But there is always a downside. During pregnancy, a woman’s body becomes very vulnerable and starts “to kink”. It happens because of physiological changes and hormonal changes, and a weakened immune system. A pregnant lady has to encounter various “surprises” of the body instead of looking forward to seeing her child. One of the most common vices of the digestive system during pregnancy is diarrhea.

How to Recognize Diarrhea?

Diarrhea is a digestive disorder that is very easy to “recognize”. It is accompanied by painful sensations in the abdomen, frequent urge to empty the bowel, as well as the changing nature of feces (can be mushy, watery, or frothy).

Basically, via diarrhea, the organism reveals its attitude towards the hormonal changes, various viruses, toxins, and allergens. Typically, diarrhea comes along with the following symptoms:

• Fever
• Nausea, Vomiting
• Flatulence and Intestinal Cramps
• Headaches
• General weakness, chills

If diarrhea is slack, there is no need to worry about your own health and the well-being of the fetus. As a rule, such a disorder does not last more than ten days and does not affect the normal course of pregnancy. But can diarrhea always be a simple reaction to the “special” physiology of a pregnant woman? There are several symptoms that give a clear understanding that it would be better to consult a doctor, such as:

• The presence of impurities in the stool mucus or blood
• Long-time diarrhea does not pass, together with vomiting and fever
• Black diarrhea, accompanied by dizziness and weakness

These symptoms require immediate reaction. Perhaps the woman has problems with it. The visit to the hospital cannot be postponed.

Can the Diarrhea be Dangerous for the Pregnancy

The degree of risk for a woman depends on the nature of diarrhea. Don’t worry if the diarrhea is short, weak, and is accompanied by the classical signs of toxicity. Also, diarrhea in the period of soon childbirth should not scare you because the body tries to clean itself. But in the early stages of intense diarrhea may increase the tone of the uterus and cause miscarriage.

Because viruses and bacteria causing diarrhea are within the bowel, they cannot harm the fetus. But there are exceptions. Among them are the cases of severe poisoning that can cause the intoxication of all organisms and lead to the ingress of hazardous toxins directly to the fetus. That is why you need to monitor your diet carefully during pregnancy, especially when you use such “risky” products as mushrooms. However, if it turns to mild poisoning, then there is no direct threat to the health and life of the child.

The main existing risk in a time of diarrhea is dehydration. But this can happen only when it is strong diarrhea. When a woman has to go to the restroom more often 5 times a day, then there is the risk of violations of water-salt balance, which provides a malfunction of the whole organism. For the unborn baby is very unfavorable to get the deficiency of minerals and vitamins. In this case, such a lack of important things does not allow the fetus to develop normally. Severe cases of dehydration can cause various defects and even miscarriages. How to protect yourself from this problem? First, you need to properly recognize the symptoms of dehydration. These symptoms include:

• Dryness of the mouth
• Dark urine, no urge to urinate
• Constant desire to drink
• Dizziness
• Sometimes drowsiness, fever, irritability

The main step to prevent dehydration is to stop the excessive fluid loss and its regular replenishment. Thus, only strong long-term diarrhea can be dangerous for pregnant. In most cases, the risk for a woman’s and fetal health does not arise with a slight digestive disorder. But if there is a doubt about your own state, you must immediately consult your doctor.

Why Diarrhea Appears During Pregnancy?

There are many causes of diarrhea during pregnancy. In the early days, diarrhea tells about hormonal changes in the body. If such disorder happens in the later stages, it may signal the impending birth. Diarrhea in the 37th week and later indicates that childbirth is coming soon. But there are other causes of diarrhea that are not directly related to pregnancy:

• Intestinal and digestive tract diseases (irritable bowel syndrome, pancreatitis, etc.)
• Poor diet leading to disruption of intestinal microflora
• Neurological disorders
• Food poisoning
• Parasites
• Infectious nature of the disease (dysentery, botulism, salmonella, etc.)
• The body’s inability to produce the necessary enzymes

Diarrhea During Pregnancy: What to Do?

Pregnancy makes a woman watch her own health as much as possible. Therefore, even the treatment of diarrhea requires serious attention.

First, we need to identify the cause of the disorder. If diarrhea is a concomitant symptom, then you need to use drugs. In other situations, you can turn to folk remedies and comply with a certain diet.

How to Treat Diarrhea During Pregnancy

Ideally, a doctor should appoint the treatment of a pregnant woman. If for some reason the hospital treatment is not possible, the woman can use drugs by herself that is safe for pregnant women.

It is important to understand that these drugs can be used only after reading the instructions and only when diarrhea is slack and does not cause much concern. In serious cases described above, self-treatment is strongly not recommended.

What and How to Eat if You Have Diarrhea

It is better to drink a lot on the first day after the onset of diarrhea. Water, strong teas and fruit drinks, and low-fat broth would be good. This helps not only to “unload” the body but also prevent it from dehydration.

The next day, you can let yourself eat “more” on the menu and add fresh cereal. Rice or oatmeal would be perfect.

Prevention of Diarrhea During Pregnancy

Women who experienced all the “charms” of diarrhea during pregnancy recognize that it is better to follow some uncomplicated rules than to suffer from diarrhea. How to prevent intestinal disorders?

1. Remembering the personal hygiene standards.
2. Take prenatal vitamins.
3. Eat right with an emphasis on fresh and healthy products.
4. Eat only at home and break up with the habit to eat out.

Diarrhea during pregnancy can be a real test of endurance. But all is well that ends well. Taking these simple steps to eliminate the problem with diarrhea, you can continue to enjoy the anticipation of the birth of the baby. Take care!