How to deal with hemorrhoids during pregnancy
Photo: Stocksy United
For most women in their third trimester, seeing blood in the toilet bowl would trigger panic. For Callie Brenshaw,* it was more like annoyance. The Brampton, Ont., woman had been suffering from pregnancy-related constipation and had read that it can sometimes lead to hemorrhoids, which can bleed. ?When you read about hemorrhoids, you think, It won?t happen to me,? she says. Until it does. Up to 35 percent of pregnant women suffer from hemorrhoids.
Know the signs
Hemorrhoids develop when the veins in and around the anus become swollen due to the pressure caused by the weight of your pregnant uterus. The most common symptoms are anal itching and burning, and pain when you poo. Internal hemorrhoids will bleed when a hard bowel movement passes over the swollen veins. External hemorrhoids appear as swollen, bluish-coloured lumps on the outside of the anus and are painful but usually don?t bleed. Hemorrhoids tend to show up either in your first trimester or your last. ?In the first couple of months of pregnancy, women tend to become constipated due to hormonal changes. They strain, and we know straining is a risk factor for the development of hemorrhoids,? says Arthur Zaltz, chief of obstetrics and gynaecology, and head of the Women and Babies program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. In the final trimester of pregnancy, he says, your heavy uterus puts pressure on nearby veins, causing tiny clumps of blood vessels in and around the rectum to ...
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