Why just clear liquids during labor
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Anonymous
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I snuck a huge bowl of spaghetti as DH was packing the car-I was starving! I ended up having an emergency c section and luckily I was fine.
With my 2nd I didn't sneak food and it really wasn't a concern once labor started |
Anonymous
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I was in labor for 24 hours. I only had a glass of apple juice very early in the process at the suggestion of a nurse. Otherwise, I was frankly too distracted to notice, and I ended up with a c-section, so I was glad not to have eaten.
I did spend the next few days making up for it. God bless the Sibley food service; no experience can be all bad if chocolate pudding is just a speed dial away. |
Anonymous
Have you been in labor? Why on earth would I want to avoid pooping during labor more than I would want energy during labor? It's a crazy marathon physical experience. You need sustenenance. |
Anonymous
| I'm married to an anesthesiologist and the no-foods rule is not a joke. It can be extremely dangerous to perform surgery on someone with a full-stomach (and that's defined as having anything other than water for the last 8 hours). Pregnant women are especially prone to vomiting, and the risk of aspiration (vomit entering the lungs) is high and can be extremely dangerous, even fatal. |
Anonymous
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The suggestion to "eat lots" seems counterintuitive to what I wanted during labor. I imagine some women might want to eat--but I was not interested in food and frankly had wished I hadn't eaten as much as I had that day (which wasn't even that much). After the baby was born, I was really hungry and at Holy Cross they even offered me a box lunch type meal! Yay!
And, sorry to say, poop happens. Kind of hard to restrict food intake in a way that ensures you won't poop. Just don't think about it and someone will clean you up. |
Anonymous
Alrighty then, here's a challenge for ya: have a consult with the anesthesiologist and ask him/her point blank: "what do you do for the thousands of patients that show up at the hospital, year after year, who need immediate emergency surgery (often with full stomaches or at least an unknown stomach status)?" Make them give you a straight answer. Ask them how often aspiration pneumonia, as a result of GA after the mom had eaten something, REALLy happens. Also, there is some evidence that aspiration of stomach bile is actually worse than aspiration of food particles, because of the acid in bile which can greatly damage the lungs. Anesthesia is extremely advanced these days. In the rare case you need a cesarean under GA, they can give you meds to prevent vomiting. They can intubate you so that no matter what, you'll be able to breathe. If by freak chance you inhale some vomit, they can treat you for that problem. Again, think how often someone has been in a fight, a car crash, has some other accident, or otherwise walks into a hospital needing surgery without having fasted for the required 8 hours. Or more pertinently, think what happens when a woman walks in off the street in labor, and needs an immediate cesarean under GA. Make the anesthesiologist really tell you, specifically, what they do in those cases, and what the true risks are. My understanding is that 30 years ago, before the latest advances in anesthesia and surgical procedure, it actually was a risk. Today, not really. Also, if the concern is a potential c/s under GA, why do they forbid food once you have an epidural? Once an epidural is in place and working correctly, they will not need to use GA even if they wind up needing an emergency c/s. It is a complete farce to think that current maternity protocols are based on scientific evidence. The reality is that they are not, not by a long shot. Many are based on providing the most interventive care possible, in the hopes that it will protect an OB and hospitals from lawsuits. Often it goes directly against what is actually best for the mom and baby. Pregnant women should never go longer than 8 hours without food -- it can be dangerous for both mom and baby. Yes, many laboring women will come to a point in their labor where they no longer feel the desire to eat or drink; however should that desire arise, it should most definitely be accommodated. Sometimes with stalling labors, once the mother has been properly fed (and perhaps taken a rest) the labor will resume and she will have the energy to push out her baby. Instead, they starve you, labor stalls, and next thing you know you're on pitocin, the baby doesn't like it, and you need a c/s. Well, whatever ladies. If you want to put up with these OBs and hospitals nonsense, I guess that's your choice. But for those who want something different, know that there are care providers out there who will actually encourage you to eat and drink, in order to keep up your energy. |
Anonymous
Oh yes, please do point us to the research. Several anesthesiologists who I've spoken with about this issue have told me the exact opposite. |
Anonymous
Yes, I had 19 hours of labor, 4 of which were pushing. I was exhausted, but not hungry. |
Anonymous
But if this is the case, why are some hospitals lifting the restrictions on food and drink, and why are research studies showing that restricting food and drink is harmful and doesn't show benefits? I find this all very confusing!
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Anonymous
| I'm one of those people who had to have emergency surgery (yay car accident). I had eaten less than 2 hours before I was rushed into surgery. Didn't die. Didn't aspirate. Your mileage may vary, so take my one experience with some salt. |
Anonymous
Did they have time to find out if you had anything in your stomach? What did they do to protect against aspiration? Assuming you had GA? Just curious. (sorry about the accident!) |
Anonymous
| Any idea what the MCA midwives do? |
Anonymous
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I threw up in both of my c/s...both were dry heaving, because I had nothing...which was awful enough. The anesthesia made me sick.
Why risk throwing up vomit in a sterile surgery room...? |
Anonymous
I quite honestly don't remember about 90% of it. I've always assumed someone told them that we were one our way home from ice cream when the accident occurred. The other two people walked away with minor cuts and bruising, I had to have my jaw reconstructed (among other things), so I couldn't have told them even if they asked. But I do know it was GA. I also know they pumped me full of something to prevent vomiting. I remember them telling me that (and my mom repeating it to me later), because they couldn't risk me vomiting with my jaw wired shut. I never had surgery before, they weren't sure how I'd react. I was also doped up on a lot of other drugs. I've had other surgeries since, and always followed the no eating and no drinking rules. Didn't take an anti-nausea stuff one time and barfed for hours after surgery. Taken it since then and haven't had that rather unfortunate side effect. Fact is, your odds of needing emergency surgery with GA are astronomically low. Your odds of aspiration, and death by aspiration, are even lower. |
Anonymous
Seriously? the second you enter that room it is no longer sterile. Vomit or not, they will clean the room later. and the rest of your bodily fluids are just as "unsterile" as your vomit... If you are planning a c/s, then follow the surgery rules. if you want a vaginal delivery, then challenge the rules that are made to accommodate that c/s that you don't want. But, hospitals are used to dealing with puke, shit, and every other substance that can come out of a human body. So don't starve yourself just so you can help them keep a sterile environment... |