Can Pregnancy Cause Constipation?

 Written by Ben Bunting: BA(Hons), PGCert.

--

When it comes to pregnancy and fertility, there are always a lot of questions to be answered.

If you and your partner are trying to start a family, you want to make sure that you are as well-informed and as well-prepared as possible.

This is a huge life decision, after all, and you want to know that you are taking all the proper steps.

But it is also a time at which there are going to be a lot of things that you want to be sure that you are doing right.

You want to be thinking about your lifestyle, your diet, and your stress levels. 

There is going to be a lot of pressure on both partners, and having as much information as you can get your hands on will go a long way towards putting your minds at ease and getting you as well-placed as possible for the big day.

That means covering everything from knowing when your fertility window is to the nutrients that you should be taking on board. 

When it comes to the pregnancy itself, it is important to know what a normal part of the process is and what should be cause for alarm.

There are going to be a lot of changes happening to your partner’s body that you should be prepared for, so let’s have a look at what you should know. 

• Why Does Pregnancy Cause Constipation?
• What Can I Do To Help?
• How Else Does Diet Impact Pregnancy And Fertility?
• Conclusion 

Why Does Pregnancy Cause Constipation?

Let’s start by looking at why your partner might experience constipation during pregnancy.

The first is that her hormone levels will be going through some major changes during this period, especially during the early stages.

There is a good chance that she may suffer constipation at this point because those changing hormone levels will be affecting how quickly her intestines are moving stool through her bowel.

This can affect nearly 40% of all pregnanct women.

Because of this, her colon will absorb more water from the stool, which makes the stool harder to pass because it is more solid. 

Your partner may also experience constipation if she is taking prenatal vitamins.

Now, it is very important to note that prenatal vitamins are important, and this is no reason not to take them.

But they may cause constipation, in large part because prenatal vitamins are heavily loaded with iron.

When a woman is pregnant, her iron levels can seriously suffer, and it is such an important mineral, especially for her at this point.

However, it can cause constipation, and you may notice that her stools become hard and black.

If she is taking prenatal vitamins, you may want to consider additional fiber or other dietary changes to ensure that you offset this issue. 

Finally, constipation may occur in the final stages of pregnancy.

This is because, at this point, there will be a lot of pressure on her bowel from her uterus, which will have grown considerably.

As you would imagine, this means that it is a lot more difficult for her intestines to move stool along. 

What Can I Do To Help?

Fiber is going to be a very important part of your partner’s diet when she is pregnant, particularly if she is taking those prenatal vitamins or if she is already suffering from constipation.

It is estimated that adults should be taking on between 28 and 34 grams of fiber every day, so make sure that she is eating plenty of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

Water is also very important. Water actively softens stool, which eases constipation and makes it easier to pass bowel movements. 

Probiotics have also been shown to be useful.

If you are unfamiliar with probiotics, these are foods that help to repopulate the number of healthy bacteria that live in your gut and make sure that everything is working as it should be.

If you want to boost probiotics, then yoghurt is often the most popular choice, but you could also think about kimchi and sauerkraut.

The final option for helping is exercise.

That doesn’t necessarily mean doing a HIIT session every day but keeping your body active and moving such as walking or swimming will help to relieve constipation by encouraging movement of the stool. 

How Else Does Diet Impact Pregnancy And Fertility?

If you are thinking about starting a family, then diet is going to be very important. To start with, being overweight or obese can make conceiving a child more difficult.

There are studies that have shown that it can impact both female and male fertility. As the male in this equation, your dietary choices have a very large part to play in the process.

➡️READ: Natural treatments for male infertility

Diet has been linked to male fertility in several ways, and there are three key areas that you need to be aware of.

1. The first is your sperm health. If you are eating a lot of foods that are high in saturated fats, your sperm health could be negatively affected, so look for foods that are high in vitamin D. You should also consider supplements that contain selenium and things like d-aspartic acid. 
2. The second is oxidative stress. This can be caused by smoking (which needs to be out of the equation completely for both of you if you are trying to conceive), drinking alcohol, a poor diet, and a lack of exercise. Antioxidants can be a real booster if you are trying to reduce your levels of oxidative stress. Fertiligy contains d-Alpha Tocopherol (which improves the quality of your semen), Beta Carotene (which can reduce sperm DNA fragmentation) and Coenzyme Q10, which has been clinically proven to increase sperm density, concentrations, and quality.
3. The final is testosterone. Testosterone is a key component for any male fertility issue, and Fertiligy contains zinc, N-Acetyl-Cysteine and fenugreek. All three of these ingredients have been proven to improve male testosterone secretion.

Conclusion

There are going to be a lot of changes to your partner’s body during pregnancy, and you should be planning for how you can make changes to your diet to ease discomfort.

But diet is just as important when you are trying to start a family. Our supplement’s ingredients have been chosen by experts to improve male fertility, and they are an invaluable addition to any plan for pregnancy.

You can find out more by visiting the Fertiligy blog and reading about other potential issues and what you can do.