Preparing and eating healthy food during and after labor is not only beneficial, it is essential. Having something nourishing on hand will make it easier for you when you may not feel so inclined to whip something up. Be sure to include your birth team in your food preparation. Your birth team will be at your side, and thinking of them in advance will be appreciated. A large pot of chicken and dumplings with kale and three bean chili with quinoa are just a couple of ideas for high impact nourishment.
Labor is an all out workout. Your body cannot perform at its best without replenishing your fluids. Recharge is an all natural hydration drink that is made with real fruit juice without the sugar,unnatural flavors and colorings. Most natural grocery stores will give you a discount for stocking up and buying a case at a time.
Some people may tell you that you should steer clear of eating during labor. The foundation for this belief lies in the hospitalization of birth. Treating every labor as a pre-op and withholding food and water from women who need nourishment could potentially lead to other problems and further intervention. Not ideal for either mother or baby.
From news.com.au:
EATING while in the throes of childbirth should no longer be a medical taboo, according to a study released today.
The duration of labour, the need for assisted delivery, and caesarean rates were all unaffected by munching between contractions, found the study, published by the British Medical Journal.
Doctors the world over have long discouraged women in labour from eating, for fear that it could lead to breathing food into the lungs in the case of an emergency caesarean while under general anaesthetic.
But such incidents have declined dramatically in recent years, mainly due to the use of local anaesthesia.
Moreover, some doctors have long argued that fasting while in labour – which can last many, many hours – may be bad for the mother and the baby.