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Eating during labor
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Anonymous
| I am curious about local hospital policies regarding eating during labor. For those of you who have delivered in area hospitals, were you allowed to eat? I will be delivering at Washington Hospital Center, so am particularly interested in anyone with experiences there. |
Anonymous
| Nothing but ice chips after you are admitted. So I'd stay home as long as possible if you want to eat. |
Anonymous
| i've heard this too. anyone know WHY the no eating once admitted rule exists? |
Anonymous
| if you have a C-section you will be in surgery and you can eat before surgey... just a thought. |
Anonymous
| Even when there's no c-section, eating during labor often means throwing up during pushing. |
Anonymous
I was asked repeatedly before my c/s if I had eaten. If they can't do the epidural, they have to give you a general. |
Anonymous
pp here I'm sorry.....'' you will be in surgery and you CAN'T eat before surgery... just a thought'' |
Anonymous
| I was so hungry, I didn't know how i was going to push a baby out. |
Anonymous
Me too. I went 40 hours without food. My advice--stay at HOME until you can't stand it. |
Anonymous
Having consumed bacon-wrapped scallops about three hours before my c (hey, if you're gonna smuggle food in defiance of the NPO silliness, make it good), I can attest to the fact that recent eating does not equal automatic general anesthesia. (And since your stomach is in the front and your spine is in the back, a full stomach has nothing to do with whether or not an epidural can be placed.) A chaser of hospital-grade Mylanta and I was off to the races. The "nothing by mouth" rule is another example of outdated practices trumping evidence-based medicine -- it's a custom that dates back to the time when all laboring women were routinely knocked out, and when the risk of unconscious vomiting and aspiration was much higher because anesthesia (and monitoring) was still relatively crude. These days, the risk of needing a crash c/s under general anes., and the further risk that the anesthesiologist would be so incompetent they couldn't manage a patient's stomach contents are very, very, very slim. And yet, hospitals routinely deny laboring women real food at a time when their bodies are working at maximum capacity. Seems downright cruel. |
Anonymous
|
Current ACOG policy is to allow clear liquids (so not just ice chips).
http://www.acog.org/from_home/publications/press_releases/nr08-21-09-2.cfm I would have eaten during my labor except for the fact that I was vomiting a fair amount once I got into active labor. I stuck a jar of peanuts & some granola bars in my hospital bag, though. (And if nobody *tells* you not to eat, who says you can't ... ?) |
Anonymous
| I was surprisingly not hungry at all during labor - and I'm usually the kind who can eat no matter what. I didn't eat for just over 24 hours with both deliveries, and it didn't really bother me until just after birth. Then I was STARVING. |
Anonymous
| I told my doc I was either going to eat with his permission or sneak food. He said go ahead and eat. The no eating policy is definitely outdated. If you've eaten and have the rare need for a c under general anaesthesia, it's more work for the anaesthesiologist to deal with you, but not dangerous, unless he / she is incompetent. |
Anonymous
| Is it hospital policy, or the policy of the provider? I will also be delivering at Washington Hospital Center but with a midwife. I had assumed her rules would be more lax and I would be able to eat/drink. Anyone know? |
Anonymous
They want you to eat if you need to. |