Enema before delivery

There is no medical indication for an enema as a routine procedure before or during labour. On admission or at the start of labour proper an enema or a rectal suppository is often offered if a bowel movement has not occurred recently. This can usually spare some embarrassment as women usually do experience a loosening of the bowel during early labour. Actually expelling an enema during the birth process can be more of a hazard in terms of infection than just the normal passage of stool during second stage.

I do not usually recommend it as a routine. Sometimes I have suggested it to a woman who is unable to have a proper bowel movement, if there is a very large collection of hard stool felt in the lower bowel or rectum. In early labour this can cause some problems by obstructing the descent of the presenting parts of the baby. If membranes are ruptured, this is still not usually done however because of the risk of infection.

Nowadays an enema is rarely used as a routine way of getting labour started. If the cervix is very ripe, the head is engaged and labour is probably very near to initiation anyway, and if the mother would rather avoid other forms of induction, sometimes stimulating the bowel with an enema is all that's necessary to get things started properly.

I hope this answers your question.