How to Fuel your body during Birth
okay y’all I’m serious about this one.
While a lot of hospital’s have some official or unofficial policy against eating and drinking in labor (yeah did you know that?), it is still your choice to eat or drink during the entirety of your labor if that feels right to you. Bonus points if you understand the archaic research behind “nothing by mouth” policies and the risks of aspiration under general anesthesia, which you can find here.
TLDR; most policies about not consuming anything except for clear liquids during birth were set by one study in the 1940’s and as evidence has changed, hospital policy has not.
So - not that I’m telling you to break the rules but let’s just say you hypothetically decide that you feel informed enough about the risks, benefits, and alternatives to eating and drinking in labor, that you’re gonna go for it. What should you plan to have?
Some questions to start with:
What your favorite sick food? Something you can always eat, no matter how crappy you feel?
What would you eat before and during a marathon?
Why is eating and drinking in labor important to you?
What to do if you’re birthing somewhere that doesn’t “allow” eating and drinking in labor?
(stay tuned for my favorite hack for this)
Your answers to this will be your guide to making a food plan for baby day! Let’s break it down by phases of labor - early labor, active labor, transition, and postpartum.
Early Labor:
In early labor your contractions may be coming anywhere from 15-5 minutes and lasting 30-45 second. This is when your cervix begins opening, associated with a dilation of 0-5cm. You will likely be able to chat through them and cope mostly by yourself. At this time, you want to prioritize plenty of calories from carbs, protein, and fat. Once things really get roaring, you won’t be able to digest protein anymore, so get it in while you still can. And this means breakfast, lunch and dinner for you AND your partner too.
Active Labor:
At this point, contractions are likely coming every 3-4 minutes and lasting a full minute. Typically associated with being 6+cm dilated. You probably have to focus a lot more on getting through each one, and probably with the support of your doula and partner too. You may still be at home or you may be at the hosptial or birth center. Snack frequently to keep your energy up!
Apple sauce & Fruit
Scrambles eggs (bonus if you add melted cheese)
Smoothies
Toast, crackers, tortillas
Protein bars
Peanut butter
Dates
Chocalate pudding cups
It’s also great to eat food that wouldn’t be terribly painful coming back up in case you vomit during a later stage of labor.
This is also a great time for MY favorite sick food - white rice with butter and cinnamon sugar on it. Yes, I am a white person from the midwest, just like my mother and her mother and her mother’s mother before her. Yes, this is the most delicious thing I can imagine and I can ALWAYS get it down when I’m feeling gross.
I remember at my first doula birth ever, the midwife arrived at my friend’s house, saw the smoothie next to her in the shower and said “you have 20 minutes to finish that” and walked out! She took birth fuel very seriously.
Transition
Oh transition! Some times called “transformtation” instead. This is the toughest, yet shortest phase of labor. Contractions come every 2-3 minutes and last 60-90 seconds. Ususally this happens when you dilate from 8cm to completely dilated (10cm). If you don’t have an epidural by this point (okayyyy brag about it!), typical signs of transition include feeling hot and cold, not wanting to be touched, saying “I can’t do this”, shaking and shivering, and lastly, and most relevant to this blog post: vomiting. Transition usually lasts 20 minutes to 2 hours. Which means you might need energy but feel too nauseated to eat anything. An IV can be a lovely tool during this time if true dehydration is threatening (available in all birth settings). Energy you may be able to stomach includes:
Broth
Candy
Honey Sticks
Coconut Water
Juice
Coke or other soda
Honey stingers or other energy chews.
That’s right guys. It’s time to indulge. But it’s not really indulgence because you and your baby share blood glucose - so if you’re drained, so is your baby. I am always encouraging pregnant people to bring their favorite candy (you know the one you’ve been desperately trying to avoid for 10 months) in their hospital bag. It’s the perfect boost of both sugar AND dopamine when you’re in the trenches.
A lot of this can also be helpful for quick energy during pushing. As long time doula I know once told me “I’ve never seen anyone throw up a honey stick ever”.
Postpartum
Dang you did it!! You might feel completely overwhelmed, exhausted, or out-of-body right now. Ideally you have a doula or amazing nurse willing to make you the famous “mommy mocktail”. Lots of people plan to order sushi or other takeout after birth, but consider that most babies are born at night and often the food you most desire won’t be available until the next day. Pack you hospital bag with something nutritious for the immediate postpartum. Every hospital in the chicago area has microwaves available for patients, which makes Trader Joe’s Tikka Masala a great option. You can bring in a cooler with whatever you want as long as you prep it ahead of time and your partner remembers to pack it! If you’re giving birth at home, plan for a crock pot meal or something easy to warm up once baby arrives. I was at a birth this summer where the dad made the whole birth plus his wife frozen gyoza. It was an absolute dream.
If you’re worried about “getting in trouble” for eating food at the hospital, you have the option to simply not eat in front of your nurse and blame your partner for the food that’s lying around. What a jerk eating snacks in front of you when you can’t eat and even leaving crackers on the try right in front of you! (wink wink)
Obviously if there’s ever a true emergency where you may go under general anesthesia, it’s good to disclose that you’ve eaten to your care team.
If you want more info about the full spectrum of options available to you at birth, check out my classes page for my upcoming offerings.
I can see all of us flourishing.
Sincerly,
Carly Ann
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A note on bad grammar- in a world of large language models producing much of the writing on the internet right now, I leave my affected and un-academic writing very lightly edited. I hope some obviously human writing by way of a run-on sentence feels cozy and real to you. Thanks for reading.
