Eating and drinking in labor
The restriction is based on a risk that barely exists any more.
Many units still restrict women to ice chips or clear fluids. The rule comes from the era when general anesthesia was common in obstetrics and stomach contents entering the lungs was a real danger. Today the great majority of cesareans are done awake under spinal anesthesia.
Across 5 trials and 3,130 low-risk women in active labor, restricting food and fluids made no significant difference to cesarean rates (relative risk 0.89) or operative vaginal delivery. The reviewers found no justification for restriction in low-risk women.
Worth asking on arrival"What is the policy here on eating and drinking, and does it change if I have an epidural?" Labor is long work, and being hungry for a day is not a neutral intervention.
Where this comes from:
178. Singata M, Tranmer J, Gyte GML. Restricting oral fluid and food intake during labour. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013;(8):CD003930.
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This page is educational. It supports the conversation with your own clinicians. It is not consent to any treatment, and it cannot assess you. If you are worried about a symptom now, see urgent warning signs.