Constipated after birth - breastfeeding safe?

Supercell

My wife gave birth to our first at the end of March this year and has been suffering a lot with constipation since, something she didn't have before , even during pregnancy.
She is Chinese and doesn't post on boards so I was hoping one for the wonderful people here could help me advise her

She has tried drinking prune juice and eating lots of greens but she is only going once every few days and she is miserable with it. She is breastfeeding baba and is afraid to take anything like dulcolax as a result.

She asked me tonight if it would be ok to pump some milk and store for a few days to feed baba while she gets something like dulcolax, so shes definitely feeling worse for wear

Are there any over the counter breastfeeding safe laxatives and is this a common thing after having a baby? Anyopne have any other home remedies she could try?

I reckon she should eat lots of plums and drink gallons of water!

admiralofthefleet

my wifes cousin was the same. she found that warm water and sugar got things moving

How Strange

Hi supercell dulcolax is safe during breastfeeding

http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/consumers/cmi/d/dulcolax.pdf

There's an iPhone app called LactMed which you can look up if you're wondering if a certain medicine or supplement is ok while breastfeeding.
Also you can ask any pharmacist to check Hales manual. I think all pharmacists have this. I had a terrible sore throat while breastfeeding and my husband went to a pharmacy to get something for me. Fair play to the pharmacist; he spent over 30 mins looking up different medicines.

Honestly there are very few medicines which aren't suitable while breastfeeding but you'll find a lot of doctors in particular but some pharmacists too are very conservative or lazy and just say you can't take x while breastfeeding.

Fibrogel are also fine to take and are very effective. Other than that lots of prunes in the morning and a couple of glasses of prune juice in the afternoon usually work for me.

She might want to get her iron levels checked as low iron can lead to constipation.

Victor

I wouldn't do anything radical without are least talking to a pharmacist or the public health nurse.

dublinlady

That's awful nothing worse!
Other than eating loads of fruit and bran - like oat bran and whole grains - she can take an over the counter remedy called lactulose liquid - there are 2 brands one called laxose and the other called dupholac ( this is different to dulcolax) . It draws water into the bowel to soften stools - therefore its really really important to drink loads of water during treatment! It's 15mls three times daily. It's only recommended for short term use. I would say if this hasn't solved the problem after a week to see the doc to ensure no underlying cause. She needs to be doing loads of walking etc also. It is the gentlest of the laxatives and is even safe for babies to use so no problem while breast feeding! However like all laxatives - your bowel can become dependent on them and so become lazy - I.e won't do the work without them - that's why it's so important to only use for short term relief! It may be just the thing tho to help kick start her system back into action! Totally normal after pregnancy due to the hormone changes and the incredible changes in stress and pressure on the bowel! Should really have resolved itself by now tho - so if this doesn't work I'd be seeing the GP!

Hope that helps! And congrats!

How Strange

Definitely check with a pharmacist but you might as ask your tea leaves as ask a public health nurse unless they have the hales reference book.

January

Speak to a professional before taking anything while breastfeeding. We can't give medical advice here, sorry.