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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

what to ear & drink while in labour

22 replies

littleElif · 30/10/2010 21:04

hiya,

just wondered if I really will have time to eat and drink...

did you? any types of foods or drinks you could recommend?

thanks,
elif

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Wigeon · 30/10/2010 21:06

I personally didn't because as soon as my contractions woke me up at 4am they needed focussing and I didn't feel at all hungry (unlike me not to have breakfast!). So it wasn't so much lack of time as lack of inclination. It simply didn't occur to me actually.

I was however starving as soon as the midwives brought toast when DD was born!

notnowbernard · 30/10/2010 21:07

Eating was the last thing on my mind

Ice cold water was all I wanted

rubyslippers · 30/10/2010 21:09

Couldn't eat or drink a thing adoring either of my labours

Try to eat something before you get into established labour

OooeeeoooeeeoooeeEthel · 30/10/2010 21:11

Not food, I was progressing too quickly and could not concentrate, but I got very thirsty. An isotonic type drink keeps your energy up but you might find all you want is sips if water. BUT........

Pack sweet snacks for after - biscuits, cereal bars etc. You will be STARVING and have massive sugar cravings.

pantaloons · 30/10/2010 21:13

I ate it the very early stages, but then sicked it all back up again. I think the best bet is just to try and get fluids in and look forward ti the tea and toast after!

notnowbernard · 30/10/2010 21:13

God, yes, STARVING after. Wolfed down the plabby anaemic NHS toast I was given post-deliveries!

tiokiko · 31/10/2010 08:24

I had slow/early labour for 3 days before going into hosp at 5cm and didn't really feel like eating anything at all during that time, apart from ice lollies which I was obsessed with...this was in December, so the local corner shop was a bit confused!

Had a sandwich before I went in to give me some energy but really didn't fancy it.

Didn't want anything at all during labour but the MW gave me some glucose sweets which did help and I also kept sipping Lucozade sport (flat juice type one) so at least I was getting fluid/carbs etc without having to actually eat.

I took in stuff like oatcakes, cereal bars, boiled sweets etc and loads of drinks. Didn't touch them during labour but they were good to have after.

Was starving after as others said - but I wasn't offered any toast post-delivery, just whisked off for a shower then off to the ward within 30 mins, all a bit hectic. I did wolf down the hideous NHS lunch though.

MrsTittleMouse · 31/10/2010 08:36

Oh dear, I had plenty of time to eat and drink. First labours often go on for quite a while.

I also recommend glucose tablets or sports drinks. Labour can be hard physical work, and it really does help to keep your fluids and blood sugar up. Chances are that you won't want anything too fatty or bulky though. I took cereal bars with me too, just in case I needed something more substantial, but couldn't face them. They were great for DH though - top tip for labour - don't let your DH choose his own snacks as there is nothing worse than stinky cheese and onion breath in your face when you are contracting.

Bunbaker · 31/10/2010 08:43

Eating was also the last thing on my mind. I can't even remember if I had anything to drink, but like others I could eat for England afterwards. So I would recommend taking some snacks for afterwards. It is a good idea to take something for your birth partner because you can't guarantee that they will be able to get something to eat either during or after the labour.

homebirthmummy · 31/10/2010 09:23

I liked the lucozade tablets. good if you have been sick as they take the taste away too.

japhrimel · 31/10/2010 18:24

I assume you're packing your hospital bag? Do remember that you may need to go in and get kept in overnight and not actually have your baby! Or if you go in for an induction, they can take a long time.

I had to go in last week and was kept in overnight and had packed nothing (33 weeks). The only food I could get in DAU and on the ward in the evening was some toast and TBH, breakfast and lunch the next day weren't great! So some snacks would've been great.

Plus they won't feed partners (I snuck my Dh a bite of toast!).

I'm now packing glucose sweets, Gatorade, Lemon Barley (you can get bored of plain water and hospitals tend to be very dry), fruit bake bars, dark chocolate, snack-a-jacks and cookies.

notcitrus · 31/10/2010 19:23

Pack loads for after giving birth (I was in labour for 36 hours and got through quite a lot of chocolate milk, grapes and bananas, too).

I got through birth and all without swearing (apart from a 'no shit, Sherlock' when told I was definitely in labour, but my response when I was told that the mythical tea and toast didn't exist and it was 4 hours to dinnertime definitely wasn't printable!

Was in 3 days and got through about 4 malt loaves, piles of fruit, and shedloads of chocolate as well as the quite decent if rather potato-based hospital food.

Caz10 · 31/10/2010 19:29

I slugged Lucozade sport like a mad woman all the way through mine. I think a combination of dehydration through being in the pool, and the gas and air making me thirsty.

Went through a 4 pack then went mental at DH when he said I'd finished it all, he appeared v quickly with a jug of squash from somewhere and I slugged that too.

Downside is I almost wet myself about an hour after dd was born, had to leap off the trolley in a panic after my stitches - I don't recommend that!!

Pack stuff for your DH to eat too, mine was starving after getting me through a very lengthy labour then getting packed off home in the middle of the night- they don't get offered the tea and toast!

MegBusset · 31/10/2010 19:33

Couldn't eat a thing but got through loads and loads of chocolate milk.

Grumpla · 31/10/2010 19:35

I was in labour for a while and ate stuff like toast, bagels, some scrambled egg at one point, all fairly early on. I was nervous about eating anything substantial as thought I would be sick but I wasn't.

The big mistake I made was not having any sweet drinks / glucose tablets. Towards the end of my labour my contractions were slowing as my blood sugar was dropping, having not eaten enough. I couldn't face food by that point, so the midwives got DH to literally ladle sugar into sugar-free blackcurrant squash for me to sip when I could, as we had nothing else in the house!

I did wish that I had a couple of cans of coke or something lying around at that point and in fact we went out and bought loads the next day as I developed a weird post-birth craving for it!

I was at home btw but if you are packing a hospital bag then definitely stick in some sweets, glucose tabs, couple of cans of coke as well as a variety of foods - you might want sweet or savoury so take both.

JarethTheGoblinKing · 31/10/2010 19:38

lucozafe tablets are very good, esp if it's the middle of the night and you've already been up for 2 days.

I ate and drank anything I bloody wanted to :)

DP made sure I had a sports bottle with a straw in it full of fresh water. I think I may have killed someone if I hadn't had that.

camflower · 31/10/2010 19:52

starbursts and san pellegrino did it for me (although there was multicoloured projectile vomiting at transition. didn't put me off, they're still my favourite sweets

wannabeglam · 31/10/2010 20:54

After I had downed chocolate in the early stages, and then felt sick, the midwife told me you shouldn't eat till you're about 6cm or you will feel sick!

My midwives were very good at offering toast and giving me energy drinks.

Original poster

littleElif · 01/11/2010 10:45

thanks everybody - just bought myself some lucazade drinks and tablets and some muesli bars :-)

OP posts:

Poppet45 · 01/11/2010 12:32

Can I really recommend NOT jelly sweets. Although they were my food of choice during much of pregnancy they are difficult to chew while mooing every minute or so during labour. That was a tough, if rather bloody obvious lesson to learn.

tablefor3 · 02/11/2010 15:51

Oh Poppet!! I was about to recommend Jelly Babies. Dead easy to swallow between contractions, full of sugar but fat free(obviously v important ) and then there's the irony of it all. For me much better than energy tablets because you can swallow them instantly, unlike those tablets.

Beveridge · 02/11/2010 20:09

The lucozade-type energy sweeties (orange flavour) gave me terrible heartburn in labour, which quite frankly was the tin lid at that point, especially as they actually stick rigidly to the recommended doses of gaviscon in maternity wards (Can I have some more Gaviscon? No. Can I have some class A opiates? Of course!)

I had, however, shoved 3 sweeties in at once against the advice of my DH

Pack the chocolate for after - tea, toast AND Green & Blacks is the best meal ever at that point!

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