Eating during labor: yes or no? And what?

Eating or not eating during labor is always a thorny issue, especially given the reality of the hospital where you choose to deliver your baby and the state of health and feeling of every expectant mother.

Fortunately, nowadays, in most hospitals, women are allowed to eat and drink.

In the event of an emergency or planned cesarean, the woman is advised to drink only a few sips of water, a preventive measure to carry out local anesthesia.

Why it’s important to eat

It is very important to eat during labor because if there is no energy and calories available, the body consumes the reserve fats, thus increasing the acidity of the mother’s and baby’s blood: uterine contractions are reduced and consequently the times of labor. Not to mention the mother’s stress. There have been many studies that have compared a group of women who ate and drank in labor and a fasting group. These studies found that there is no consequence related to C-section outcomes, Apgar score, or any other outcome.

It was concluded that women should have the right to choose whether or not to eat during labour. (Singata, Tranmer et al. 2010)

Denying the possibility of eating and drinking means denying women the ability to take care of themselves. It is important that the woman listens to and indulges in her own physiological rhythms.

Ina May Gaskin in her book The Joy of Childbirth repeatedly observes how it was often enough to make the expectant mother drink or eat something in order to recover part of the lost energy to make a change in a labor that seemed to have stopped.

Many women don’t feel hungry during labor and their labors are so fast that eating would be counterproductive.
If labor is rapid and the woman does not feel the desire to eat, it is best to indulge her wishes because she knows what is best. On the other hand, many women, especially those in their first experience, can have labor much longer than six hours and, in these cases, it is better to nibble on something.

What to eat?

The woman who faces a natural birth is advised to:

• eat regularly, small amounts but frequently.
• choose foods that immediately give energy.
• eat vitamins and proteins.
• avoid refined sugars and complex foods.
• drink often.

When labor begins , during the hours you are at home because the contractions are the initial, light and irregular ones, the advice is to have a good light meal.

Choose vegetable or meat broth, bread with light cheese, eat yogurt or ice cream and fresh, raw fruit or vegetables.

It’s important not to be weighed down but still have energy to face the rest of the labor and delivery.

Have small meals frequently so as to integrate the lost energy from time to time.

If the feeling of nausea and vomiting win over the desire to eat or drink something, give it a try, make a little effort, because it is often the low glucose level that causes the feeling of vomiting.

Try it with dark chocolate, honey, jams, nuts and dried fruit in general. So sweet foods that are effective quickly. Always carry a small bottle of water with you to which you can possibly add isotonic powders, those used by sportsmen, which give an extra energy boost!

Recommended foods during labor that are easily digested

• rice
• soups, salads, cereals
• fruit: pear, apple, banana
• fish, turkey or chicken
• cooked vegetables

Foods not recommended during labor

Foods such as red meat, french fries or foods that are high in fat, being difficult to digest, can cause indigestion.

So eat little and often, eat easily digestible foods, if you are not hungry do not force yourself to eat but rather simply drink, consume fruit juices and smoothies.