The Labour Poo

I’m SO excited to announce that The Positive Birth Company has officially partnered with household brand Andrex, in a bid to get the nation more comfortable talking about poo…

Specifically: the labour poo 

If you've ever Googled “will I poo in labour?” - and let’s be honest, most of us have - then firstly: you are absolutely not alone. And secondly: this one’s for you.

As you probably know, this is a topic VERY close to our hearts, and something we’ve spoken about A LOT over the years.

Firstly, because giving birth often FEELS like doing a massive poo.

Secondly, because the environment you need for birth to progress - where you feel relaxed, safe and uninhibited - is very much the same environment you need when going to the toilet!

And thirdly, because when you give birth, there’s a very good chance you will poo. And that’s actually a GOOD thing.

As your baby descends through the birth canal, they put pressure on your bowel and anything in there tends to get squeezed out. Midwives get very excited when it happens because it usually means baby is very close to being born!

So why are we still so anxious and embarrassed about it?

Because nobody talks about it. Talking about poo is still a huge taboo.

But shame and silence get us nowhere.

In fact, fear of pooing in labour can actually be detrimental. Not only because it wastes precious energy worrying about something completely normal and beyond your control, but because resisting the urge to push - trying to “hold it in” - can slow progress down and make giving birth more difficult. It may even increase the chance of tearing or needing assistance.

When it comes to giving birth, you want to be as relaxed as possible - in mind and body - so everything can soften and open.

That means getting comfortable with the fact that you might poo in labour… and that’s OK.

If we can get more comfortable talking about it, we can help make people’s births better. And we are 100% here for that.

So when the opportunity arose to work on a campaign that was seeking to normalise the labour poo - and even celebrate it - we couldn’t say no! 

Because nobody should go into labour worrying about something so ordinary, so human, and so utterly insignificant in the grand scheme of what their amazing body is doing.

And the icing on the cake? Seeing a birth scene portrayed in such a positive and empowering way, on mainstream TV. That’s a dream come true, right there!

More to come on this soon… but for now, just know:

If it happens, it’s a sign your body is working exactly as it should, and you are SO close to meeting your baby 

And that’s definitely something worth celebrating 

Siobhan x