What are the causes of constipation during pregnancy? What should pregnant women do to deal with constipation? Is constipation a symptom of early pregnancy?
Queries & doubts all around when precautions during pregnancy are accompanied with problems like constipation. Irregular bowel movement is a common problem faced by many women during pregnancy due to which you remain gassy, bloated, and miserable and just wanting success on toilet seat.
What are the Causes of Constipation During Pregnancy?
What are the reasons behind Pregnancy Constipation and how to deal with it? Well, the reason is the pregnancy hormones, which cause muscles in the bowel to relax due to which food stay in digestive tract for long. The other reasons behind constipation in pregnancy are the prenatal iron containing vitamins and the expanding uterus, taking up the space which is occupied by bowel, hence disturbing it in its functioning.
All these reasons are unavoidable till the period of 9 months but still there are plenty of ways to solve it out.
How to treat Pregnancy related Constipation?
Here are list of safe ways to deal with Pregnancy Constipation:
Intake of Fibrous Food: Fiber rich food helps to remove waste. Go for dried fruits, fresh veggies and fruits, legumes (beans & peas) and whole grain cereals and breads. Follow the rule- At least 25-35 g of fiber each day. Choose eatables rich in fiber and with this avoid the basic constipation causing agents i.e pasta, refined cereals, white bread and white rice.
Add Activity to your daily routine: Sometimes we are not used to the fiber rich diet, so it will take a little time to get adapt to it. The best way to deal with this problem is adding some fiber to each meal and making sure not to overload it. Give your body some time to adapt to this new diet chart.
Go for 5-6 mini meals: Don’t overload the digestive tract with bigger meals. Prefer eating 5-6 small meals than 3 bigger meals. This will lead to less bloating and gas.
Hydrate yourself: For keeping the solid move through the digestive tract and keeping stool soft, drink at least 8 glasses of fluid (water, fruit or vegetable juice). Regular prune juice being a mild laxative helps to deal with this pregnancy constipation. You may also blend it with other juices & fruits in the form of a smoothie. You may also turn to warm liquids like lemon & hot water.
Schedule Potty Time:Maintain a routine of your diet and its timings so that you don’t have to rush to toilet. To solve this here is a simple way like eat fiber and prune juice at around I hour before going out so that you can receive nature’s call before heading out for work.
Consult Your Health Advisor: Talk to your gynecologist carefully regarding your medication & supplement (iron supplement, prenatal iron and calcium) carefully as they induce constipation. And Of course Antacids, you can talk to your health advisors for alternatives if possible. Or else you have to depend on the above written way outs.
Don’t follow the potato on the couch Lifestyle: Doing regular exercise during the Pregnancy encourages a healthy bowel movement. Go for a brisk walk regularly.
Consider Probiotics: Add Yogurts to your daily diet, it is rich in probiotic acidophilus which stimulates the intestinal bacteria to break down food better and this helps in keeping things moving.
Fiber Supplement: Can I take Fiber supplement while pregnant? You need to consult your Health adviser regarding of high powdered fiber to your diet like psyllium or wheat bran. Follow the instructions on the package and start with a small dose.
Stay away from Laxatives: Can I take Laxative while Pregnant?, Is it safe for a Pregnant women to take laxative for Constipation? So here you go- NO, NO a Big NO. You may find it the easiest way to solve it out. As Laxatives are not safe during Pregnancy. You must consult your Physician before taking any constipation remedy or medication.
Constipation during Pregnancy? In case of any query or info, please add in comments.
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