Constipation common in pregnancy, study confirms

Undated file photo shows a pregnant woman behind a curtain. REUTERS (Reuters)NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Half of all pregnant women willsuffer from constipation at some time during their pregnancy,new research shows.
While constipation is widely believed to occur frequentlyin pregnancy, there has been little research to determine itsactual prevalence, Dr. Catherine S. Bradley of the Universityof Iowa Hospitals & Clinics in Iowa City and colleagues reportin the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
To investigate, they followed 103 healthy women beginningin their first trimester of pregnancy.
Twenty-four percent reported constipation during theirfirst trimester, 26 percent had constipation during the secondtrimester and 16 percent were constipated during their thirdtrimester, Bradley and her team found, while 24 percent hadconstipation during the first 3 months after they gave birth.
Breast-feeding and other postpartum factors could affectwomen's bowel function after pregnancy, the researcherssuggest.
Women who took iron supplements were 3.5 times more likelyto have constipation as those who didn't, while women who hadbeen treated for constipation in the past had 3.0 times therisk of constipation during pregnancy.
However, there was no relationship between constipationrisk and the amount of exercise women got or the amount offiber they consumed.
Up to 19 percent of women had symptoms of irritable bowelsyndrome at some point in their pregnancy, Bradley and hercolleagues found; they urge further study into a possible linkbetween irritable bowel syndrome and pregnancy.
"Given our findings, we suggest that pregnant women whoreport a history of constipation at their initial obstetricvisit or those who require iron supplementation be screened andcounseled about constipation treatment options duringpregnancy," the researchers conclude.
SOURCE: Obstetrics & Gynecology, December 2007.