Well, that's a poop of a different color!

You hear it all the time...the "dangers" of vaginal birth.  People tell you crazy things like, "You'll never be the same again!"

It's no wonder that many women are so fearful of vaginal birth.  But for all of us birth junkies out there and for those of us who are going back and forth trying to make a decision "to vaginally birth or to not to vaginally birth!"

Here is some evidenced-based research for you!  Knowledge is power my friends!

March 2010

Some women experience leakage of stool or gas while their perineum is healing in the postpartum period, and for some women this problem can become chronic. 

Cesarean delivery has been proposed as a way to protect the integrity of the pelvic floor and avoid incontinence. A new systematic review explores whether cesarean section is associated with lower rates of anal incontinence than vaginal birth. 

This review includes 21 observational studies that compared the odds of anal incontinence following 6,028 cesarean births with the odds of the problem following 25,170 vaginal births.

This review shows no evidence that cesarean delivery protects a woman from future anal incontinence compared to vaginal birth. 

So there! Your body was MEANT TO DO THIS...and it will protect itself!

Nelson RL, Furner SE, Westercamp M, Farquhar C. Cesarean delivery for the prevention of anal incontinence. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD006756. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006756.pub2.