This is one of those questions that I think every woman thinks about but are often too afraid to ask! The answer is most likely YES and that's usually a good thing!

Releasing your bowels before labour can help progress the labour towards transition and the first stage of pushing – in other words, women need to poo.It's also a positive sign that your baby is moving down the pelvis, hence the extra pressure on your bowel. Similar pressure may occur during the pushing phase – as a woman bears down, the baby's head may press on the bowel, and so it is common to poo.

Most women don't even realise they are doing it and midwives are excellent at discreetly cleaning it up. Birthworkers always see poo in the pushing phase as an excellent sign - it means the baby is doing its job of moving down through the pelvis! So embrace the poo, ladies!