Comedian Katherine Ryan has opened up about an often-unspoken reality of childbirth, revealing that she pooed during two of her four labours. The 42-year-old mother of four, whose youngest child Holland is just seven-and-a-half months old, is on a mission to dismantle taboos surrounding the birthing process.
Speaking on her podcast Telling Everybody Everything, Ryan said such occurrences are “nothing to worry about because no one will remember”. She argued that no aspect of childbirth should be a source of embarrassment, particularly the involuntary bodily functions many women experience. “With the latest baby I did poo in front of England’s most handsome doctor, and I’ve shared that experience because I do think it’s important to be really candid and transparent about those things,” she said.
Ryan is fronting a new Andrex #MyLabourPoo campaign, which aims to break the stigma and encourage mums to share their birth stories online. Campaign research found that 75% of mothers fear pooing in labour, while 13% were not even aware it might happen and were completely unprepared when it did. “A lot of women are really terrified about pooing in labour, and that’s a very understandable fear,” Ryan said.
The comedian, who has three children with partner Bobby Kootstra — Holland, Fenna aged three, and Fred aged five — as well as a 16-year-old daughter, Violet, from a previous relationship, recalled her own experiences. During her third labour, at home with daughter Fenna, she remembered a small strainer being used in the birthing pool. “Nobody said a word, they just whisked it away,” she said. She noted that far from being embarrassing, a labour poo is actually a positive sign because it means the birth is imminent. “It only happens at the last minute. That’s why it’s such a good thing, because it means your labour is almost done.”
Ryan acknowledged that the fear is valid and said she would not “gaslight women by saying pooing in front of doctors and your partner isn’t a big deal”. However, she added: “Once it’s happened, you won’t notice, you won’t remember, and you certainly won’t care.” The campaign aims to give women permission to talk openly about the full spectrum of maternal experiences, from the joyful to the messy.