What are "light snacks"?

[ardenbird]

I've seen stuff recommending bringing "light snacks" with you to the hospital for labour. But what does "light" mean?

So far I've got some tuc crackers and little boxes of apple juice. I was thinking also maybe apples and grapes. I love the little clementine oranges, but I vaguely remember something about avoiding citric acids? And would a banana be light or heavy? What about something like a small piece of cheese (I'm thinking mini babybell as they keep well out of the fridge) -- is that too much fat/protein and heavy?

I packed some cereal bars, orange juice and apple juice. After I'd called the hospital when I first went into labour they said to eat some toast, so DH made me toast straight away, I took one bite, chewed it and spat it out! Just couldn't eat it! In the event my labour was 5 and a half hours and got to the hospital two hours before DS was actually born so I didn't eat anything during labour. The juice was lovely afterwards as tea/coffee/water at the hospital got a bit boring!

I would really recommend taking some food for your birth partner as if you're in the hospital, they'll give you three meals a day, but no-one else! My hospital was lovely and kept sticking extra piles of toast for my DH and DM who were starving as we ended up staying until the next day. Maybe some sausage rolls or cornish pasties to keep them going, I think they'd last quite a while out of the fridge.

HTH and good luck

Take whatever you want, as long as it will keep reasonably well and won't need cooking!

Not a snickers/mars bar like the woman on OBEM! I second snacks for DH. Once you are in labour you may find you don't want to eat anything anyway, as cherryblossom says. i couldn't even face a plain biscuit in labour, and I never go without food
I would still pack things again for next time though, just in case. What about dried fruit for energy? I should think bananas would be great, but I only took stuff that wouldn't go out of date or get damaged so that I didn't have to think about it as I was leaving the house. Drinks with a straw would prob be easiest in labour, but I stuck with plain water.

Oh and the snack you pack for your DP - make sure it doesn't smell when he eats it/on his breath. On REFLECTION cheese and pickle sandwiches weren't the best idea and when you feel sick anyway.....

I would suggest inert non smelly stuff!!!!

Bananas are difficult to diget in labour so best not. I have cereal bars and Fox's glacier fruits as hate 'dry mouth'

Its also worth packing food for after the labour as well. You might not fancy eating during it, but you might realise you're starving afterwards and the two slices of toast the midwife will offer just won't do it!

Also, I'd avoid anything too acidy or difficult to digest just on the off chance that you do throw up at any point. From painful experience, anything citrus or tomato based does not come back happily!

My friend had Chupa Chups lollies.

Agree with others - your partner will be starving after missing a couple of meals, whereas, when labouring, you might not.
You want to have this stuff ready in your bag, which is why people suggest "dry" things rather than fresh fruit or sandwhiches - but you can always take them when you do decide to go in to supplement what you already have packed.

Was going to say the same as Bella! During labour I never felt like anything (too nauseous) but afterwards it's lovely having something nice to eat.
Also second the idea of having something for your partner - it was about 6 months after DS1 was born that I realised DH had gone from 8 in the morning until 6 the next morning on a packet of sweets, bless him.

Bananas are difficult to diget in labour so best not. I have cereal bars and Fox's glacier fruits as hate 'dry mouth'

Oo, good point to remember about DH! He's problematic as he unfortunately has a huge array of food allergies which cut out most prepackaged things, but we can make sure we have fresh bread (from the bread maker, as he can't eat commercial bread) and sandwich meats in the fridge. His allergies probably make it even more important to pack, as the likelihood that there's nothing at all he can eat at the hospital would be high.

Thanks for thE rest of the pointers. Unlike DH, I'm good with all sorts of wrapped-up stuff, and dried fruits and nuts sound great.

My contractions were strong and close together from the start and I couldn't have eaten anything. Lucozade Sport were my life savers as I could sip them to keep my energy levels up.