What does your poop look like in early pregnancy

All the Ways Your Bowel Movements May Change

Pregnancy takes your body through a lot of changes, so at times you won’t feel like yourself. But while some pregnancy issues are expected — a growing bump, morning sickness, and moodiness — changes in your bowel activity might come as a surprise.

Granted, pregnancy poop isn’t the most exciting topic to talk about. But knowing what to expect can remove the element of surprise and settle worries when the unexpected does occur.

First thing about pregnancy poop: There may be times when it doesn’t seem to be happening at all. Constipation is having fewer than three bowel movements a week. To be fair, irregularity can happen anytime, whether you’re pregnant or not. But it’s a complaint that affects a lot of pregnant people.

Different factors contribute to constipation, such as too little fiber, inactivity, or eating foods that don’t agree with you. When it occurs during pregnancy, though, it’s often due to an increase in the hormone progesterone.

This hormone slows muscle contractions in the intestines. And when muscle contractions slow down, your bowels don’t flow as freely or as easily.

Symptoms of constipation include hard, dry stools, bloating, and straining. You may also have gas or stomach pain, which is probably the last thing you want to deal with when pregnant.

The good news is that constipation can be an easy fix. Drink plenty of fluids, especially water, to help soften stools so that they’re easier to pass. In addition, add more fiber to your diet. This includes eating more vegetables and fruits.

A stool softener might help severe constipation, but be sure to talk with your doctor first.

Blood on the tissue after wiping can send you into a state of panic. But don’t think the worst.

Seeing some blood in your stool or on the toilet paper is another common pregnancy occurrence, especially if you’ve been dealing with constipation.

Constipation isn’t only physically uncomfortable, it can also lead to straining. This can cause small rectal tears (fissures) or swollen veins (hemorrhoids). Both can cause bleeding from the rectum — usually a small amount of blood that appears pink or bright red.

Hemorrhoids and anal fissures can heal on their own. But to prevent the occurrence of new ones, take steps to avoid constipation and don’t strain.

Even though fissures and hemorrhoids are common, you should always notify your doctor of bleeding during bowel movements. Bleeding is sometimes due to other issues in the digestive tract — more so when blood appears black or tarry.

Be mindful that eating certain foods can also change the color of your stools, making them appear red. This can happen after eating beets or foods that contain red or black food coloring.

Fluctuating hormones during pregnancy can also cause loose or watery stools. Diarrhea occurs as your body produces the hormone relaxin. This hormone is only released during pregnancy.

It prepares your body for labor and delivery by loosening your joints and ligaments. The problem, though, is that relaxin can also loosen the joints around your rectum, causing bouts of diarrhea.

For the most part, mild diarrhea isn’t serious, but it’s important to stay hydrated and drink plenty of fluids.

Contact your doctor if you have more than three loose stools a day, or if you have other symptoms such as:

blood or mucus in your stools
weight loss
stomach pain
fever

Speak with your doctor before taking any over-the-counter medications to treat loose stools.

Interestingly, the color of your stools can also change during pregnancy. Normal stools are usually light to dark brown, but during pregnancy, your poop could turn green.

Again, don’t be alarmed. A lot of times this is triggered by an increase in fiber intake, or more specifically, eating more vegetables and leafy greens. Good for you if you’ve increased your healthy food intake during pregnancy!

If you’re taking prenatal vitamins or an iron supplement, both have also been known to change the color of poop from brown to green. You may even have green bowel movements if you take a prescribed antibiotic while pregnant.

Your stools will return to a normal color after you stop taking certain vitamins and medications.

But although green poop is normal and doesn’t usually indicate a problem, talk with your doctor if you have any concerns. Sometimes, green poop is due to an infection, gallstones, food poisoning, and irritable bowel syndrome.

Very dark stools can also occur during pregnancy. Notify your doctor if you notice black or tarry poop. Again, although food dyes can turn stools dark, a dark color can also signal bleeding in your digestive tract.

When you tell friends and family that you’re expecting, some will see this as an invitation to share their own pregnancy story — the good, the bad, and the ugly.

And when it comes to actually having the baby, you may feel it doesn’t get any uglier than losing your bowels during delivery. In fact, this might be your greatest fear.

But the truth is that pooping during delivery is common, and it’s nothing to be ashamed or worried about. (It doesn’t happen to everyone, so you might be worrying about nothing.)

The muscles you use to bring life into the world are the same muscles you use during a bowel movement. So yes, it can happen. Just know that you wouldn’t be the first mother to poop during delivery, and you won’t be the last.

If it makes you feel any better, the hospital prepares for this possibility. A nurse will swiftly clean it up — as if it never happened.

But if you’re still concerned about this, you can try and relieve yourself before you’re ready to push. Ask your nurse or doctor if it’s safe to take a suppository. These often trigger a bowel movement within minutes.

After a vaginal delivery, it’s only normal to be a little anxious about the first bowel movement after giving birth.

You might worry about additional soreness down below or irritating stitches if you had some tearing. Of course, this is only if you’re able to go. Pain medication you receive during and after labor can make your muscles a bit sluggish, initially causing constipation.

When you’re ready to go, taking a stool softener and drinking plenty of water and juice can make your first poop after delivery easier.

It also helps to have a pain reliever on hand, and maybe witch hazel cleansing pads, to reduce burning and inflammation. The important thing to remember is don’t strain.

Let things flow naturally to avoid hemorrhoids and anal fissures, which can cause more pain and discomfort.

Pregnancy poop may not be something you want to talk about, but it’s something you need to think about.

Pregnancy can affect every part of your body, so expect your bowels to go through some changes, too. Keep in mind that every pregnancy is different. The key is knowing what to expect, so when changes do occur, you’re not caught completely off guard.

If you have any concerns, talk to your doctor. They’ll be able to help figure out the cause.

Green Poop When You're Pregnant: What Does It Mean?

As you’re completely aware by now, pregnancy affects every part of the body — even digestion and poop!

Bowel movements can look different some days even when we’re not pregnant. Green poop might make you look in the bowl twice, but it’s in the range of normal for poop (believe it or not).

There are several reasons why your poop might be green. While it’s not common, it’s usually nothing to worry about. Some causes have nothing to do with pregnancy — green poop can sometimes happen to anyone.

Foods

You poop (some of) what you eat! Some foods can give your poop a greenish tinge, whether you’re pregnant or not.

Fiber-rich foods help bulk up poop. A lot of the fiber isn’t digested and gets passed out of your body. If you’ve eaten a lot of fiber-rich, green plant foods, they might also color your stool.

Foods that might sometimes cause green poop include:

spinach
kale
broccoli
collard greens
chard
parsley
herbs
seaweed

Food coloring

Food coloring and dyes are chemicals that brighten up some foods. If you’ve sipped green soda or had a piece of cake with green frosted icing (maybe on St. Patrick’s Day?), you may have green poop.

Some food dyes use blue-green seaweed called spirulina to give them a green hue. Others are made from artificial chemicals. Both kinds of green food dyes can give you mint-colored poo.

Similarly, other food colorings and dyes can sometimes brighten your poop. Some black, purple, and blue food coloring can also turn your poop green. This is because the dyes partly break down as your food is digested.

Iron supplements

You’re likely taking a prenatal supplement. Check the ingredients. It will probably have the mineral iron in it. Iron is important for your body to make plenty of red blood cells for you and your baby.

Taking iron supplements can also sometimes give you greenish to black stool.

Make sure you’re not taking extra iron along with your daily prenatal supplement. Take all your supplements in the recommended dosages and drink plenty of water to wash them down.

Medications

Some medications can temporarily change the color of your poop. Antibiotics get rid of some healthy bacteria in your gut, along with the “nasty” bacteria. Friendly bacteria help to make brown-colored poop.

Taking antibiotics might give you green poop for a little while. Don’t worry, the healthy bacteria will move back in when you’re no longer on antibiotics.

Other medications can also make your poop green. This includes the pain medication indomethacin.

Gallstones

Gallstones are hardened bits of cholesterol and digestive acids in your gallbladder. If you’re pregnant, you have a higher chance of getting a gallstone because pregnancy hormones temporarily raise cholesterol levels.

Don’t worry — usually, the gallstone just floats around until it dissolves and doesn’t cause any symptoms. Other times, gallstones collect like loose gravel and cause a blockage in the bile ducts.

The bile ducts are part of your digestive system. These tubes carry bile (digestive fluid) from the liver and gallbladder to the intestines. The small intestine is where most food digestion happens.

A blockage in the bile ducts can happen from an infection, inflammation, or bile stones. Bile is also what makes poop a darker shade like brown. If there’s no bile, your poop will be a lighter shade, usually yellow, but sometimes light green.

Infections

If your poop is light green to yellow, it might be because of an infection. An infection or swelling in the liver, pancreas, or gallbladder can sometimes lighten the color of your poop, whether you’re pregnant or not.

Inflammation (swelling) in the liver can also give you lighter colored bowel movements. Gallstones can sometimes trigger an infection or inflammation in the liver.

Regular pregnancy changes

As your baby grows, your intestines and other important inside parts get squished to one side. You also have high levels of pregnancy hormones like progesterone. These changes usually cause constipation, bloating, and gas.

Some pregnancy hormones can also lead to faster digestion. While this doesn’t cause diarrhea, it can lead to green poop. This happens because when your body doesn’t take the time to properly make poop, friendly bacteria can’t turn it brown.

Bile is naturally a yellow-green color. When it mixes with poop, friendly bacteria help to turn it brown. If your poop isn’t pampered enough by bacteria, it’ll come out a greenish shade rather than brown.

Digestive conditions

If you have an infection or a digestive condition, your intestines may get irritated and get rid of your stool before it has time to turn to a nice brown shade, instead of green.

Digestive infections and chronic conditions that might flare up during pregnancy include:

food poisoning
E. coli infections
norovirus
rotavirus
irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
celiac disease

Diarrhea or loose, watery poop is common in your third trimester (something to look forward to!). You might get a lot of diarrhea as your delivery date gets closer because of spiking hormone levels.

While green poop can also happen during this time, it doesn’t usually mean you’re about to go into labor. Green poop can happen at any time during your pregnancy.

Green poop during pregnancy will usually go away on its own. You don’t need to call your doctor if it happens occasionally and if you have no other symptoms.

Call your doctor right away if you have other symptoms along with green poop, like:

fever
diarrhea that lasts longer than 3 days
cramping
bloating
gassiness
unusually smelly gas
stomach pain
back pain
pain in the upper right abdomen
pain in the shoulder area

Speaking of poop colors, let your doctor know if you think you may have blood in your poop. Bright, red blood in your stool might look alarming, but it’s usually just from hemorrhoids close to the outside of your body.

On the other hand, dark red to black blood in your poop, or poop that looks like coffee grounds, means that the bleeding is higher up in your digestive tract. You may need urgent medical care. Call your doctor right away.

Your poop can tell you a lot both during pregnancy and when you’re not pregnant. Take a quick glance in the toilet to loosely keep track of your poop changes. (No pun intended).

Green poop can happen for lots of reasons. Most of these causes are nothing to be concerned about. Let your doctor know if you have any other symptoms along with changes to your stool color.

Pregnancy stool: problems and solutions

Pregnancy and childbirth

Photo of: fizkes / Adobe Stock

Main problems with stool during pregnancy bowel movements and constipation. All these phenomena can be associated with hormonal changes in the body or developing diseases and infections. Let's consider them in more detail.

Loose stool

This problem most often occurs in the early stages. It is associated with a change in the work of individual organs and systems, with toxicosis, characteristic of the first trimester, with a change in diet: many expectant mothers want to eat something like that.

May be associated with stress and anxiety. In some cases, diarrhea indicates that an infection has entered the body, then other symptoms are added to it: nausea, vomiting, weakness, high fever.

Loose stools during pregnancy is an alarming sign, it threatens with dehydration. If this symptom appears, you should consult a doctor who will prescribe the appropriate treatment for the situation ( see also: Stress below the belt: be strong in spirit, not in a chair!).

Discoloration of stools

This is the second most common problem and is usually harmless. The change in the shade of feces is associated with the peculiarities of the diet of the pregnant woman. For example, the black color is due to the intake of preparations containing iron, or activated charcoal, which relieves the expectant mother from intestinal colic. Green color causes an abundance of vegetables and fruits in the diet, white - a large amount of dairy products. nine0003

In some cases, a change in shade indicates the development of diseases. So, black color can talk about gastric bleeding, white - about problems with the liver or pancreas. In such cases, ailments manifest themselves as additional symptoms: vomiting, nausea, general weakness.

Constipation

This is a problem in the second or third trimester. It is caused by an increase in the uterus, changes in hormonal levels, insufficient fluid intake or physical inactivity. Constipation is dangerous because it can become a factor in the development of gastrointestinal diseases, hemorrhoids or intoxication. nine0003

To avoid their appearance, you need to eat more vegetables and fruits, dairy products, take care of physical activity ( see also: Constipation and remedies: how glycerin suppositories work for constipation).

Pregnancy stool changes depending on the period

Photo: Getty

Frequent stools during pregnancy or constipation is a reason to see a doctor. Changes in the color or consistency of feces may indicate the development of various ailments, so it is important to consult a specialist in a timely manner. nine0003