Pregnancy and stoma or J-pouch top tips

 

Hi, this post has been created using tips from ladies who have been pregnant whilst having a stoma or a j-pouch, they are also members of the group Ostomy & J-pouch moms, so you can learn from those that have the most experience. Thank you for all your input in this post and I hope it helps those women who are thinking of having a baby but want more information, make a decision.

Alice ( right picture above )

“8 months pregnant, didn’t have any complications with the bag apart from a little parastomal hernia that went back in after giving birth. I did have to have a maternity counsellor for my mental health as being back in the same hospital as when I nearly died bought back some bad memories of course.She thinks I had PTSD. So definitely take care of your mental health because we’ve all been through a lot, so this stressful time is bound to bring up some stuff for a lot of people.”

” Be prepared fro size changes with your stoma, and to go from a convex to a flat bag agin was bliss.”

“I wish I had photos of my pregnancy journey with a bag. For some reason I didn’t want to have many taken, unlike my 1st pregnancy without a bag.”

” I never took a picture of my stoma while pregnant. I wish I would have. It’s so weird because it moves lower and lower and it’s hard to do a bag change. Bowel obstruction at 28 weeks so I was in the hospital for a few days and then on a full liquid diet.”

” I have two J-pouch babies. Both pregnancies were different, first one was a breeze, however, I did experience intermittent bleeding which they put down to pressure from previous surgery and had this again with second pregnancy. Both babies lay so low they thought head was engaged and were hard to scan from 12 week appointment. Second baby caused huge pressure on my pouch and the last few weeks caused an intense stinging pain- ice wrapped in toilet paper helped to sooth this”

” Get a good OBS/ GYNAE, preferably one with experience with ostomates. Have a clear birthing plan.Some can have a natural birth but others may not be able to for various reasons.”

” Take pre-natal vitamins that are easy to break down and get a good quality one”

“Eat small frequent meals, stick to food that is easy to digest. Ostomates have a higher risk of blockages while pregnant.”

” Order cut to fit flanges as stomas tend to grow wider. Be prepared for it to possibly get longer or prolapse. Some even experience a hernia.”

If you would like to add some more tips to this list then please get in touch using the contact form, I would also like to make a photo gallery, so please send any in that you would like me to use.

 

 

 

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