A mother who feared her two-year-old son’s untreated constipation could have killed him is calling for access to children’s continence services to be made a national priority.<\/p>\n
Elissa Novak said Ivan was constantly vomiting, losing weight and in severe pain when it was at its worst, and a doctor said 2kg of his 10kg (22lb) body weight was estimated to be stool.<\/p>\n
The number of children aged up to 16 admitted to English hospitals suffering with constipation, among other symptoms, is at a 10-year high, with more than 44,000 admissions in 2023-24, according to NHS figures.<\/p>\n
Children are being failed by the absence of dedicated bladder and bowel services in some parts of the country, an expert said.<\/p>\n
About 1.5 million children in the UK suffer with constipation, according to the charity Bladder and Bowel UK.<\/p>\n
As many children returned to school this week, charities have told the BBC they are seeing a spike in calls to their helplines.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It’s a huge problem and many healthcare professionals don’t consider it a serious issue in children,\u00a0\u00bb said Davina Richardson, a children’s specialist nurse with the charity.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Discussing wee and poo is very un-British. It’s not something that we as a culture do.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Elissa said Ivan, who is now aged five, had been \u00ab\u00a0completely robbed of his toddler years\u00a0\u00bb due to health issues resulting from constipation.<\/p>\n
He was admitted to hospital 25 times in one six-month period in 2022 for emergency treatment.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It was horrific,\u00a0\u00bb Elissa said. \u00ab\u00a0He was so frail he couldn’t lift himself up or do anything.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0He was in pain all the time and either screaming or just lying there because he was too weak.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Elissa, 35, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, said she had constantly gone to her GP to try to get help and answers.<\/p>\n
At that time in Warwickshire, there was no bowel or bladder community service, which meant they were going to A&E up to four times a week.<\/p>\n
It was only when things got to a crisis point that Elissa was told constipation was causing Ivan’s pain.<\/p>\n
She thinks he would have died had there been any further delay in treating it.<\/p>\n
Elissa was told Ivan’s entire colon was impacted, which had pushed up into his lung cavity and compromised his lungs.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0His stomach was squashed. All of his organs were being pushed out of the way,\u00a0\u00bb Elissa said.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0We were in A&E for up to 12 hours at a time… just waiting for an enema of all things.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It was a very horrible time. It was so traumatic for everybody.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Ivan has two genetic syndromes which affect his cognitive functions.<\/p>\n
Elissa thinks this played a part in the signs being missed and constipation not being diagnosed sooner.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It was seen as ‘that’s just what disabled children are like’. We did actually have one consultant who said ‘disabled children just scream’,\u00a0\u00bb Elissa said.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It wasn’t looked into properly, it wasn’t taken seriously until he was really at crisis point. His signs of pain weren’t recognised. It was just a perfect storm really.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Ivan now has a care package so his constipation can be managed at home with laxatives and daily bowel wash outs.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It is a huge part of his life and a huge part of his day. He still suffers pain but it’s so much better,\u00a0\u00bb his mother said.<\/p>\n
Elissa is campaigning for better bladder and bowel care services across the country.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0People are falling through the cracks,\u00a0\u00bb she said.<\/p>\n
Here are some of the ways to prevent a child from becoming constipated:<\/p>\n
Source: Bladder and Bowel UK<\/p>\n
Brenda Cheer, a paediatric specialist continence nurse with children’s bowel and bladder charity Eric, said children’s constipation was on the rise for a number of reasons, including delayed potty training and today’s generation of children spending more time in childcare.<\/p>\n
She said children were being failed in areas where there was no dedicated children’s continence service.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0There’s huge disparity of those services,\u00a0\u00bb she said.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Where is the parent supposed to go? How are they supposed to get the help they need? How is a family supposed to access support if there is no children’s bladder and bowel nurse?\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Constipation can be treated in the community and should not require a hospital admission, but is not being recognised, Ms Cheer added.<\/p>\n
Holly Brennan told the BBC her daughter Ayda had suffered with chronic constipation for three years and she had been in \u00ab\u00a0turmoil\u00a0\u00bb at the lack of help.<\/p>\n
It started when Ayda got a virus when she was two years old and spiralled from there, Holly said.<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old described going to her GP six times and being prescribed laxatives to treat it – but not being given any guidance on how to use them, and said she had been told her daughter would grow out of it.<\/p>\n
When it was at its worst, Ayda, now five, would have up to 15 accidents a day.<\/p>\n
Holly, from Clevedon, Bristol, said: \u00ab\u00a0It was three years of hell. She very much didn’t grow out of it.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0We didn’t want to go out for day trips because you wouldn’t know where the toilet would be and she was constantly having accidents.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It was just complete stress and caused arguments between my husband and I [about] how to deal with it. It upset her [Ayda] and you try not to get cross with them but it’s just frustration and it just affects everything.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Sometimes it would take Ayda a week to go to the toilet because she associated it with pain, her mum explained.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It was a vicious circle. It was just complete turmoil… something that everyone just used to say she would grow out of or ‘it’s a phase’ or ‘she just needs to learn’,\u00a0\u00bb Holly added.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Our life literally revolved around the toilet for three years.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Holly was not referred for further treatment for Ayda or told about children’s continence services that could help.<\/p>\n
She said it felt like \u00ab\u00a0the blind leading the blind\u00a0\u00bb with several doctors unable to advise her and she had reached a dead end.<\/p>\n
It was only when she was told about the charity Eric that things started to get better.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0There was finally an answer on how to help her,\u00a0\u00bb Holly added. \u00ab\u00a0It [the website] described my child.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Ayda is now off laxatives and able to control her bowels.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I’m very proud of her and how she’s coped. She’s taken it all in her stride,\u00a0\u00bb Holly said.<\/p>\n
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said it is committed to ensuring children get the right care and support when they need it for conditions such as constipation.<\/p>\n
In a statement, it said: \u00ab\u00a0As part of our 10-year health plan, neighbourhood health services will bring together teams of professionals closer to people’s home to provide comprehensive community care.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0We will also strengthen health visiting services so all families have access to high-quality, personalised support.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Jodie Gosling, MP for Nuneaton and who chairs the all-party parliamentary group for bladder and bowel continence care, said constipation had fallen low on the list of priorities facing local council and integrated care boards.<\/p>\n
She said children’s continence care \u00ab\u00a0has been a silent casualty of chronic underfunding and reactive healthcare\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0This leads to a postcode lottery, where even high-need areas fail to address issues like constipation adequately.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A mother who feared her two-year-old son’s untreated constipation could have killed him is calling for access to children’s continence services to be made a national priority. Elissa Novak said Ivan was constantly vomiting, losing weight and in severe pain when it was at its worst, and a doctor said 2kg of his 10kg (22lb) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9132\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}