Pooping Your Way Towards Fetal Ejection

POOOOP!!!!!!

POOOOOOP!!!!!!!

POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!!!!

That’s what could be heard in my bedroom as I transitioned into pushing out my baby boy.

It wasn’t a cute mantra like “my body and baby are working together” or “breathe in relaxation breathe out tension”.  Nope, “POOOOOOOOOOOOOP!” was the most effective mantra that got me through transition and towards the ever elusive fetal ejection.

Why?

Before I answer that, I have to let you know that if you read any further we are officially besties because we are about to talk about bowel movements and obviously we only talk about that with besties. No judgement!

(K. Carrying on. Final warning 💩)

Because somehow, in all of my birthprep I focused so much on how to have effective bowel movements that my mind automatically connected pushing with bowel movements.  But, who has time to chant “Bowel Moooooovements!” “POOOOOOP” is just so effective. It can be high pitched, it can be gutteral, it can be held out for a full exhale “POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!”

Pushing a baby out does not require you to push using your vaginal muscles, not at all. It actually takes you pushing a bowel movement. In my pre-pregnancy preparations I worked with my extraordinary pelvic floor PT who as homework had me practicing effective pushing.

Breathe in fully into your belly.

As you breathe out, hug your abdominal muscles.

Think of it like a soda can in your abdomen moving up and down with your breath. Hug your abdomen muscles towards your belly button. And simply breathe out.

Moving evenly up and down. Breathing in and out.

On the flip side, if you hold your breath and push, picture that can of soda being put in a freezer. All those gas bubbles expanding and needing to come out one way or another. The bottle doesn’t explode. No, even worse, the can simply expands too much at the bottom and wont sit nice and flat anymore.

That’s what's on the line for me: prolapsed pelvic floor organs.

No thank you! I want all my organs to stay in their place. You should too!

So where did all this poop obsession actually start?

I’m back at work and my pregnant mamas are asking after they hear about my 5-hour birth ending with fetal ejection of my precious boy, what’s the trick to recreating that?

Is it the comb? The tens unit? Curb walking? Miles circuit?

Nope, I simply hyper analyzed my bowel movements, practiced breathing to the point of rarely needing to hold my breath and push, instead simply breathing through my bowel movements.

And then the day of moaning “POOOOOOOOOP” to the point of driving my midwife crazy because she thought I was telling her I had to poop.

Nope, I was simply working towards pooping my baby boy out. And hearing those sweet words from my midwife afterwards “girl idk why you were saying poop so much! You didn’t even poop!”

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Ana Munoz is a birth doula, hypnosis practitioner and licensed massage therapist serving the greater Orlando birthing community. If you are currently pregnant and looking for a birth doula to support you and your family she has space available to be your birth doula. For more information, CLICK HERE now.