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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Definitely do not sneak food. The reason it's clear liquids is in case you need anesthesia (like for an emergency c-section). [b]If you have food in your stomach it can come back up and get into your lungs and make you VERY sick. [/b]
Do not sneak foos!

I had dinner at 6:30 pm
Water broke 1:00am
Baby born 8:00 pm

No food until 11 pm. 
Almost 30 hour of not eating, and I was pretty hungry by 11, but not during labor. They give you an IV of sugar water. [/quote]

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.

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