# were you allowed to .....



## lizardbreath

Eat while in labour. 
My hospital had a no eating rule. And nothing but water to drink. So i wanted to see what the different hospitals and countrys are like


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## Tacey

Yes. I think eating and drinking are encouraged in most UK hospitals.

Edited to add: Once I was in active labour, I really wasn't hungry. I ate a few sweets and attempted a cereal bar, but couldn't manage it. Oddly enough, I didn't want anything to eat for well over 24 hours after she was born, so I think I went about 3 days without eating a meal. I made DH eat the meals the hospital provided so they wouldn't tell me off!


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## Celesse

I was allowed to, but my (very pro-natural birth) consultant said it isn't really recommended. She said that he digestive tract stops working very well during labour and chances are you will puke if you eat too much. She recommended sports drinks and said sucking sweets would probably be ok. 

During both labours I just haven't felt hungry at all.


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## sg0720

i did not eat during labor.


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## Sommerfugl

I think they encourage it here.

I tried to eat at the start, before the contractions were _really_ bad, but it wasn't easy. When I was in active labour I couldn't even think about food. I kept being 'fed' sports drinks by the midwives though, which I think helped.


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## aimee-lou

I was force-fed toast and lucazade as I had keytones in the urine and got a massive telling off! Yes you may well be sick, but food is energy and you need it!


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## Nix

It is encouraged during early labour in my hospital to help boost energy levels. I don't think I fancied anything in labour though but I was starving afterwards and ate like a horse


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## amjon

The doctor initially said only clear liquids when they induced me. The nurses asked them to change it, so that I could eat at least until I was in active labor. (It's a good thing as it took 4 days!) I never thought I was, so they never changed the order. I didn't really want to eat when I was at the end though. I ordered a big breakfast right after though. I was starving then.


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## Guppy051708

Eating and drinking was encouraged during my hospital labor. Though I am in a part of the United States that is more tolerant of natural birth (still very medicalized though). But for most of the country, its not allowed.


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## Guppy051708

Although i must point out that i had a very specific birth plan and did not want an IV or other medical intervention unless truly necessary. Despite little on being persistant posterior, i did do it intervention free...so that could have contributed. If i would have had interventions like narcotics, epi, pitocin, inductin, etc then i dont think i would have been allowed.


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## NaturalMomma

At the hospital no. They had a no eating and drinking rule, you could only have ice chips. Research shows there is benefit to eating and drinking water in labor. At home I ate and drank freely with ds2.


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## happygal

I was allowed to eat and drink when i had my first although i didn't want anything to eat. 
With my second i was induced and was only allowed water x


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## jensonsmummy

In early labour i was given hospital lunch of chicken curry (OH ate it) though i ate the icecream. As soon as i hit active labour i think i may have hit you if you offered me food lol. Though i did tell my OH off for eating a quality street infront of me that the midwife had given him :) and made him save me the rest. I ate them when LO was just born lol


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## disneyleanne

I think it's ridiculous that women are being told they cannot eat during labour! You wouldn't starve yourself before running a marathon would you? That's, in effect, what they are asking you to do. Labour requires a huge amount of energy. I will be eating and drinking freely whatever anyone says!


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## xcharx

I wasnt allowed to eat :( and I was hungry!! X


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## Guppy051708

disneyleanne said:


> I think it's ridiculous that women are being told they cannot eat during labour! You wouldn't starve yourself before running a marathon would you? That's, in effect, what they are asking you to do. Labour requires a huge amount of energy. I will be eating and drinking freely whatever anyone says!

Totally and completely agree!


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## Trying4ababy

I didn't feel like eating.

We are only allowed ice chips anyway


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## sevilla24

I was allowed to... but didn't want to!


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## GypsyDancer

I was encouraged to eat and drink in active labour and im in UK however i was so out of it i didnt want either x

edit : i was induced and had an epidural and was still told to eat about an hour before pushing..so i nibbled on some twiglets x


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## purple_kiwi

i was allowed no food at all, OH brought me chocolate milk right at the beging like 6 am and i wasn't allowed even a sip. All i got was water/ice chips and some popsicles depending if they wanted to bring me them only got like 3 the whole day. I was starving as i hadn't ate since like 5:30 the night before and went the whole next day without any real food at all (had a c-section at 7 that night)


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## teal

I wasn't allowed to eat and could only have a few sips of water.


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## gills8752

In my hosp there is a midwives unit and a labour ward. In midwives unit, a natural birth is encouraged, no docs are there unless required and the only drugs you can are oral ones, gas and air, birth pool. So eating is encouraged to keep energy up. Next door is the labour ward so if you want/need more pain killers...anything IV, Epi etc or need intervention you'll be through there and then you can't eat as it interfers with IV drugs and potential for c-section etc.
I like that the hospital has such good facilities for both options and they are right next to each other...literally a trolley ride down the hallway. I remember asking for an epi in the midwives unit and 15 mins later I was on a bed in Labour ward with a needle in my back.


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## Lil_Pixie

I was induced and i was encouraged to eat. They brought me a sandwhich, but before i had a chance to eat it i was examined and the mw thought the babies head was stuck and i would end with a section so they took it away again!! i was starving, lol i asked her to go out of the room, come back in five mins and tell me not to eat then! She was right though, he was stuck, but she may as well have let me eat cos i still puked during my section.


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## CatandKitten

The hospital I will be delivering at has a blanket no food/water policy, but my doctor allows it. We will be bringing food/drink anyway because I dont care what they say if I am hungry or thirsty I will be eating and/or drinking. They cant kick me out for it if I am in labor.


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## emilyjade

with DS i arrived ready for pushing but was drinking because of dry mouth from G&A. With DD i was induced and was allowed anything i wanted, also i was waiting for my waters to be broken and they brought me and my grandma a huge tray of sandwiches and biscuits. Im in the UK x

ETA: i didnt eat any though i just couldnt face food. I was also given tea and toast after but couldnt eat that and OH ate it! x


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## Torontogal

CatandKitten said:


> The hospital I will be delivering at has a blanket no food/water policy, but my doctor allows it. We will be bringing food/drink anyway because I dont care what they say if I am hungry or thirsty I will be eating and/or drinking. They cant kick me out for it if I am in labor.

I couldn't agree more. I don't give a flying F*** what they allow or don't allow, if I want to eat, I'm eating! What are they going to do, call the cops?


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## holly2234

I was allowed to do pretty much as i wanted and i had a bit to drink but thats it. I had some sweets before going to the hospital. Afterwards i was so hungry though!


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## lucy_x

Nope, and i wasnt fed from 8.30am until 7.30pm :(


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## Mrs Doddy

yes - if you called it food lol - no drinking surely thats not a good thing as to stay hydrated is important - I needed lots of water while in established labour


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## x__amour

Nope! Only Popsicles and ice chips at the hospital I was at! My lips were so red, I had so many! It's a precaution here in case for c-sections because the anesthesia can upset your stomach. 

Of course I didn't listen and snagged a few chips from my DH... Guess who projectile vomited mid surgery? :blush:


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## Leopard

Hell yes, they were not keeping food from me! :haha: I vomited most of it back up as well. I had water and juice and coffee to drink. It was good; inbetween contractions that is.


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## honeybee2

My sister wasn't allowed to eat anything during her labour. She was high risk and any persons considered high risk (inc those that are induced) are more likely to have a c section apparently so they discourage eating for this reason. I did ask the midwife where she would get her energy from if she couldn't eat and the midwife said the body goes into auto pilot and energy from food is not required.


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## xx~Lor~xx

We were allowed to eat. OH was feeding me sweets, I remember vividly with my daughter's labour, i was coping really well eating one sweet quickly in between each contraction and just managing it, and then OH went and popped THREE in my mouth at once, and I couldnt eat it quick enough and ended up spitting it out on the side of the birthing pool, and grabbing the gas&air, and then appologising to the midwife after for being so disgusting :haha:


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## littlecupcake

I will hopefully be in the birthing unit and have been advised to bring in snacks and a frozen bottle of water so will have ice cold water as apparently it will defrost very quickly in the warmth of the unit. She did say lots of people bring in energy drinks and sandwiches but her advice was "only eat and drink what you don't mind seeing reappear" as she said sickness was just a natural part of labour. xx


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## Emerald

Eating was the last thing on my mind :haha:


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## krismarie621

My midwife encouraged me to eat, although I didn't have much of an appetite too, she told me I'd need my strength to push. I had some soup and a bit of a muffin, and throughout pushing I drank ginger ale.


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## ohbananas

They were trying to make me eat and drink since I went in extremely dehydrated. Since I was induced, I didn't eat or drink for the first 48 hours I was in labour, because I was in too much pain and just didn't feel like it. I however didn't feel like eating, I drank boatloads of water and juice though. However, they let OH go and get food for himself, eat in the delivery room and everything, lol.


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## emyandpotato

I don't know because I didn't get chance but when I went for a sports drink (without caffeine) afterwards as I really needed the energy I got told I was harming my LO and that I wasn't allowed it. They didn't offer me water though.


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## bbyno1

I as allowed water but not sure about food.
It didn't even cross my mind lol.


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## Ju_bubbs

I wasn't even allowed to drink water with my hospital births... apparently it would only lead to me needing to wee.. and it was 'too much hassle' un-hooking me from the completely unneccesary constant monitoring that they had me on so that I could use the loo!

One of the many reasons that I now point blank refuse to go anywhere near a hospital during labour, these days.. unless it is lterally life or death!


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## MustangGTgirl

We are not allowed to here... only ice chips too, no liquids.


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## CatandKitten

So I offically asked my Dr about his policy today. He said since I wasnt getting an epidural that anything I wanted to eat/drink was fine as long as I realized it might come back up during transition. Yay. For some reason this is a huge comfort to me.


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## xSin

I wonder if any studies have been done on this and a possible correlation between "Emergent Cesarean" because the mother is "too tired" (gee I wonder why?) 

I don't know if I'd be able to stomach food but I intend on having lots of fruit juice to keep my blood sugar and energy levels up


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