In Labor? You Can Eat!
Good news for hungry, pregnant women everywhere: new recommendations are evolving that may just change the tradition of “ice chips only” for women in labor.
Many women may not be interested in food during labor. However, I do know some women who were in the hospital for many, many hours and were very hungry during the process of giving birth. Traditionally, women in labor are denied anything but ice chips, so most women have to tough it out until after the baby is born.
Standard hospital policy for many decades has been to allow only tiny sips of water or ice chips for pregnant women in labor if they were thirsty. Why? It was feared, and some studies in the 1940s showed, that if a woman needed to undergo general anesthesia for a cesarean delivery, she might inhale regurgitated liquids or food particles that could lead to pneumonia and other lung damage.
But, the article goes on to mention that anesthesia practices have gotten better since this time, and it is generally considered much safer.
The research on the topic is discussed here:
Singata and colleagues systematically reviewed five studies involving more than 3,100 pregnant that looked at the evidence for restricting food and drink in women who were considered unlikely to need anesthesia. One study looked at complete restriction versus giving women the freedom to eat and drink at will; two studies looked at water only versus giving women specific fluids and foods and two studies looked at water only versus giving women carbohydrate drinks.
The evidence showed no benefits or harms of restricting foods and fluids during labor in women at low risk of needing anesthesia.
So, some OBs are now relaxing the “ice chip only” rule and allowing patients who are low-risk for anesthesia to eat what they want during labor. If you’re pregnant and are low-risk, talk to your OB about this. You never know how long your labor might take and you might need some cafeteria food to keep your strength up.
I was on the “ice chip only” program for my labors. As soon as my first daughter was born, I sent my hubby across the street to Wendy’s. It was possibly the best hamburger I’ve had in my life. Thinking back, I might have been too nervous to eat until after the birth. But, maybe not. Mmmmmm, french fries….


