Horror story: I was also worried about pooping during labor. I have never even used a public bathroom to poop because the idea of pooping near other people makes me anxious. I went to the bathroom before I went to the hospital to try to prevent pooping during birth. It was in vain. My first push, I realized I was going to poo if I pushed any more, so I kind of held my pushes in for the next couple of contractions because I didn’t want to poop. Of course, that’s a terrible idea, and as soon as I started pushing again for real, I pooped. I pooped with every push for like the next hour. I have no idea how I had that much to poop out. My midwife, nurse, med student, and husband all saw me poop many times, and my midwife quickly wiped it away every time. It was seriously not a big deal at all. It let us know that I was pushing effectively I guess, and I didn’t really care in the moment. I feel like this might have been worst-case pooping scenario and yet I lived to tell the tale and I got to snuggle a baby at the end of it!

It was probably good I had that experience, too, because honestly postpartum was even worse and my birth was great exposure therapy. Your pelvic floor control may terrible for a while, so you may have trouble controlling your bladder and bowels. I pooped in my pants a couple of times postpartum, and my husband had to help me clean up. He did it without complaint or judgment. At the very least, you will likely have trouble controlling gas, so you probably won’t be able to hold your farts in around your husband for a little while.