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im very embarressed to admit that i have hemeroids.. ive come to the verdict that its just a joy of pregnancy (ive had it good so far so i cant complain)
my MAIN and biggest concern is what will happen during labour?
surely all that pushing and pressure down there can NOT be good. what is recovery like?
do i mention it to the midwife who is present at the birth?
any advice of comments are truelly appreciated, thanks :)
also just wanted to add.. anyone have any good advice on positions to make it less servere and/or painful during labour and birth?
thanks :)
Very sorry you are going through this! I was told about these while pg with Annabelle, I was lucky enough not to get them.
There are hemroid creams at the chemist. Have a chat with your Mid wife she'll be able to help you alot ;) She's one lady you dont need to be embaressed around. It's best to talk about it with her :)
You can avoid 'roids by not actually 'pushing' - that baby's coming out and pushing only puts pressure on your whole pelvic area, it doesn't make contractions more efficient (in fact, the opposite, because when you push you deprive the area of oxygen flow, which compromises efficiency of the uterus - it's one big, pulsating muscle in labour!). Breathing DOWN, rather than actively pushing greatly reduces the incidence of haemorroids :) If you can get your hands on a copy of Marie Mongan's HypnoBirthing, she not only has great relaxation exercises and visualisations for birth preparation and labour, but also how to do this 'birth breathing'. Better still, a Calmbirth course! You go through the physiology of birth (that, for some reason, they just don't go through very well at all in hospy birth classes), relaxation techniques, visualisations and positions. Well worth the money spent on the course because even in the event of unexpected outcomes, you will be in a much better headspace to deal with it all. I did HB because there was no Calmbirth available to me the first time round, and I saw it as my insurance policy (and compromise for not having a homebirth). I didn't regret it and DP, as much as he biatched and moaned about spending the money, was grateful because it meant he didn't have to do much except catch the baby and massage my back at intervals during labour. Once we did the course he knew that I could do what it took to have a peaceful birth as possible (even if something went wrong) and it took a load off his mind. Men are much better help in labour if they're not worried about just how much they'll need to emotionally support you or worry about your welfare ;)
As for positions, even if you DO do the CB course, Janet Balaskas' books are essential reading for comfy birth positions. Even if you're not planning a waterbirth, her book Waterbirth is excellent, as is her New Active Birth.
Loads of threads on gentle birthing here - just have a browse when you have some time up your sleeve! Search Hypno or CalmBirth to find heaps.
Arrr, the joy of hemeroids! I had them quite bad, i remember the first sign of them when i was pregnant and thought ''here we go'' as my mum had them really bad and had to have them removed as they wouldnt go away! luckily mine were 90% better after a few months. i was to scared to go to the loo for about a week after giving birth! which in itself caused all sorts of issues. :rolleyes:
To be honest, the hemeroids will probably be the last thing on you mind during your labour and i dont know what would make them better during, i just remember my midwife commenting on them while i was crowning!:redface: ''oh, you have been constipated'' thanks for that !! ;)
i drank so much prune juice everyday to try and make 'it' easier, thats the only thing i can think that helped.
PAWPAW.. is awesome for them! i treated mine so that hopefully i wouldnt have then when i went in to labour(which i didnt but they did come after)
keep hydrated, eat lots of fibre and DO NOT push out any thing( baby included) let gravity do its thing and lots of rocking
Oh, one way to practice birth breathing without actually doing it is to practice whilst on the loo when you're doing a poo! You don't actually need to push to do this, either, as the peristalsis motion (much like the uterine motion) is doing a lot of the work for you - so you do what you may not be used to and just breathe through the whole thing, instead of holding on and pushing.
I realise you already have them, and by 'avoid' in my PP I meant avoid exacerbating or adding to them!
Last time I also added Metamucil to my daily diet about 2 weeks ahead of the due date and kept it up for a couple of weeks after - very, very helpful! This time round I decided to just use psyllium husks from the health food shop in a juice I make up of my own (much yummier) and add my liquid iron supp to it, and it's had the same effect. I started the husks much sooner than I started the Metamucil last time because I was getting 'stuck' earlier on. If you prefer the ready made drink, go to Aldi - their version is essentially the same thing (flavoured psyllium husk) but a lot cheaper!
ETA: Oh, Doudou, I LOVE your signature!
I had one (appeared at about 35 weeks pg) and I didn't do anything special during labour (did all the pushing, etc) and nothing went wrong.
It went away after about 6 weeks. Just made sure I was well hydrated and ate some good high-fibre foods...