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Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Snacks for hospital for labour??

27 replies

Dec19baby · 06/12/2019 09:44

I've had my hospital bag packed for a while now, but every list I read says to pack snacks. What did others do for this? So far I've got cereal bars I really don't know what else to bring??

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mrsed1987 · 06/12/2019 09:47

I took some jelly babies (good for a bit of energy). Lucozade, crisps (big bag of onion rings lol!) And some frozen mars bars (reccommended by my midwife). Although i had a quickish labour, just under 4 hours so i only had lucozade at that point, i stayed in the following night so it was great to top up the hospital food

Boymummy3 · 06/12/2019 09:56

I've never took snacks or anything I've always been too occupied to eat anything. Suppose good if your getting induced or have a long labour.
As pp has said snacks that will give you energy will be good x

Spam88 · 06/12/2019 09:57

We were told we weren't allowed to eat once we were in established labour (although my midwife did tell me to sneak a square of chocolate at one point) and tbh I couldn't stomach the thought of eating or drinking anything once labour started anyway.

If you do want snacks for during labour, it's all about energy, so just take some sweets.

PlushPlush · 06/12/2019 10:00

I took some healthy cereal bars and fruit, but ended up sending DH to get chocolate and sweets instead. Just take whatever you genuinely like to snack on.

& pack some bendy straws so you can drink lying down.

greeentopmilk · 06/12/2019 10:04

Whatever you usually like to
Snack on

I couldn't eat during labour but lucozade sport was good
For energy.

If you end up staying in hospital afterwards even for a day or so, remember they will only feed you breakfast dinner and tea so anything you would want to eat in between meals is important.

annlee3817 · 06/12/2019 10:27

Lucozade sport in a cup with a lid that had a straw going right down to the bottom, meant I could sip it at any angle without moving around much.

I was grateful for sweets and cereal bars for my first night in hospital after DD was born, as struggled to stay awake for feeds, so energy was needed at that point rather than in labour

stripes416 · 06/12/2019 10:39

@mrsed1987 why did she recommend them to be frozen?

QforCucumber · 06/12/2019 11:41

Pringles!

HippoRampage · 06/12/2019 11:45

Terrys chocolate orange saw me through most of my labour! And red grapes.

lovemenorca · 06/12/2019 11:46

Bloody hell. Really.

You don’t know what snacks you like to bring to hospital.

RandomWok · 06/12/2019 11:54

Anything tasty, sod healthy there's plenty of time for that later!! Didn't eat anything during labour and I was too busy vomiting. Probably a good thing too as I had an emergency c section with a GA. But I was kept in for 5 days so I worked my way through the snacks during that time. You can never have too many snacks! If any are left over you can sit and eat them while feeding!!

teenageanxy · 06/12/2019 15:57

I had a whole packed lunch first time around.
Chicken drum sticks
Pringles
Pineapple
Sandwiches.

Was ravenous after giving birth and it was early hours of the morning so the hospital would have only provided prepacked sandwiches or cereal.

KellyHall · 06/12/2019 15:59

What snacks do you like that won't make your hands all sticky, make you too high on sugar (thinking of the later sugar crash if you're there a while!)

I took doritos, welsh cakes, biscuits. I ended up being in hospital for two days and my snacks were woefully inadequate!

Her0utdoors · 06/12/2019 16:00

Neat ribena and jelly babies, although I had very little appetite. I tried some toast after not having eaten for nearly 24 hrs with my second and having a contraction while trying to swallow and nearly choking was horrific.

Babdoc · 06/12/2019 16:23

Bear in mind that if you are regarded as being in a high risk category for surgical intervention, you may need to be kept nil by mouth during labour, so snacks will be verboten!
That includes women with a BMI over 40, women with twin pregnancies, meconium staining, worrying ctg trace, etc. Also, if you are given opiate painkillers, they delay gastric emptying and increase your risk of vomiting, so again it may be necessary to restrict oral intake.

randomsabreuse · 06/12/2019 16:29

Snacks more for afterwards if you end up in over night having missed dinner...

Besidesthepoint · 06/12/2019 16:35

My DH was really happy with the nuts I brought. I wasn't allowed to eat or drink for almost a whole day (9 am- 11 pm) due to labour, birth and then placenta refusing to budge so needed operation.

Caspianberg · 06/12/2019 16:40

I plan on taking a mini feast for afterwards, just incase its like midnight and everywhere is closed. If its daytime DH will be promptly dispatched no doubt to find some decent actual hot food.

Thinking snack wise: cashews, nice granola bar, dried mango/apple, lindt dark chocolate, maoams, mini apple juices, oat biscuits.

RollOnNextYear · 06/12/2019 16:44

I took lucozade. (dh drank them haha)
Took cereal bars and digestives. As after gas and air I feel sick so digestives were good. Plus went to the ward at 3am. Was starving.. So was fab.

I really wanted full fat coke.. I'd of given my right arm for that and no where in the hospital sold fizzy.. Only fizzy water. Not gonna cut it I'm afraid. This time I'm taking 6 cans

Darkstar4855 · 06/12/2019 16:45

I took M&S Belgian chocolate milkshakes, they were a lovely treat to give my sugar levels a boost! I also had some cereal bars but didn’t eat those until afterwards.

Original poster

Dec19baby · 06/12/2019 16:55

@lovemenorca there's no need to be so rude. Of course I know what food I like to eat, I'm asking what was appropriate to eat as I've never in my life been in hospital or had a baby. But thanks for your advice.

Thanks for the replies everyone! I was thinking of sweets but wasn't sure if that was common to bring or not. I'm low risk pregnancy so can't really plan for any surgery etc, and know I can't eat then. Think I'll add some chocolate and sweets to my bag. And depending on the time of day, sandwiches for after! Thank you!!

OP posts:

Dyra · 06/12/2019 18:50

I had cereal bars and fruit gums. Didn't touch them during labour in the end.

The bars came in handy in the middle of the night, since apart from a couple of pieces of toast, I'd had nothing to eat for over 24 hours and I was ravenous.

Her0utdoors · 06/12/2019 20:14

Even if you don't fancy them during labour, having a couple of packets of biscuits and some nuts in your bag could be gold dust if you are stuck in bed on the ward (they forgot to feed me the first time.).

AmICrazyorWhat2 · 06/12/2019 20:22

I didn't have complicated births but was also advised not to eat or drink once in labour - I was able to sip iced water through a straw.

I think it's because you're more prone to throwing up when in labour, I didn't, but I didn't want to risk it!

ShyteSprite · 06/12/2019 20:31

I threw up anything I ate during my first labour which meant I was starving by the evening when I'd given birth. Then I couldn't reach the tea and toast placed just out of reach to my side because the epidural hadn't worn off, so make sure someone leaves you a stash of goodies within reach before they go!

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