I am very happily 22 weeks pregnant, and I had a permanent ileostomy made in 2009 due to UC.

Until the past week my pregnancy has gone very well, but now I am getting a lot of pain after eating. It's pretty generalised belly pain, but I do get twinges at the stoma site and at random other places. I rang the midwife at the hospital who told me to see my GP, so I have made an appointment with her and also my stoma nurse.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? It's putting me off eating and I don't want to put my baby at risk through poor nutrition.

Any advice appreciated

Amy.

Sounds like it could be a small obstruction. How quickly has your belly grown? I had an obstruction at 17 weeks with my first and it lasted about 6 weeks till the adhesion we think was causing the issue popped. If you are relatively small for your stage, it could be this. Could also just be a smaller obstruction that will not get worse. Definitely get it checked but you may want to see your surgeon or gastro if the midwife doesn't have an obstetrical solution.

My obstruction was almost total - only passing fluid once a day and it was painful. I was on a liquid diet 2 weeks nad very limited diet 3 weeks. In the end went full term with a very healthy baby - who is now 5 1/2 My OB told me not to stress about the nutrition tht the baby would take what he/she needs from me first so it would be your overall nutrition and health that you'll need to regain after this, not the baby's.

Not saying yours will get this bad, but for mine they determined the blockage was close to the stoma opening so they put a foley catheter in the stoma (it hung into the bag) and left it till it fell out on its own - about a week - which is when the obstruction popped. Wasn't fun but it avoided surgery and got me through.

The rest of my pregnancy was fine. My second pregnancy I had absolutely no issues.

Let me know if you ahve questions.

Thanks Jill

I managed to see my stoma nurse, GP, and midwife and we all agree that my expanding uterus was probably pressing on my intestines and I may have had a partial blockage. Thankfully all pain has cleared and the baby's heart is still beating away, so all seems well. My stoma nurse warned me that it is quite common for pregnant women with ostomies to have a prolapsing stoma, especially towards the end of her pregnancy but it should fix itself after the birth.

And you are right Jill, I am smallish compared to other women at 22 weeks, but baby is the right size. I think baby just went through a growth spurt and my insides got a bit squashed until they rearranged themselves

So glad to hear you have had healthy pregnancies and babies, although the blockage sounds like torture! You must have been relieved when it finally cleared without surgery.

Amy.