Labor Snacks

[Chris Amirault]

Ok, eGulleteers, wrap your collective brains around this one.

My partner Andrea is fast approaching active labor, and we've packed up her labor bag with many things, but no food. In fact, we're at a loss as to what we should be preparing for labor. Conventional wisdom is that you don't want to be eating anything with much bulk, so clear liquids, juices, and hard candies (sugar is good -- energy boost) are considered the norm.

Andrea's omnivorous and would appreciate just about anything; of course, once active labor starts, all bets are off anyway, so a selection is needed. Ideas? Suggestions? Feel free to suggest things that need cooking or freezing. Thanks in advance -- I might not have time to be so polite later!

edited to clarify a couple of things -- ca

Edited March 12, 2005 by chrisamirault (log)

[snowangel]

No food once labor begins. Ice chips, yes. Big glasses of water, no.

Things that go in after that point have a way of coming back up. Speaking from personal experience, although I normally like to nosh my way through the day, once I was in labor, my mind was on other things! I'd be surprised if the hospital staff recommended that she eat while in active labor. I went through a 36 hour labor without eating, nor did food ever cross my mind.

You, however, (assuming you are going to coach her through this) should eat, especially if it gets long. I always sent my husband out to eat at least once, and quite frankly, enjoyed the time alone, which allowed me to focus. But, if you want to bring snacks for yourself, by all means do. Just eat them discretely.

However, within an hour of my kids' (I have three) births, I was voraciously hungry. So, you might want to bring some food for her, for after, and save her from that horrid hospital tray, or the gawdawful sandwiches they bring from the fridge in the maternity ward (of the slimy ham on squishy bread variety with no mustard).

[Jensen]

I second what Snowangel says. Once labour starts, not only is eating discouraged, it's not even remotely desired. I'm sure the woman's body just shuts down certain functions to focus all on the number one priority.

That being said, I was also STARVING once I'd spawned. I will suggest something with a fairly good fiber content. Once things are "shut down", they can take a bit to get going again.

Edited March 12, 2005 by Jensen (log)

[Marlene]

Ill third this. the last thing on my mind during labour was food. And nothing big definately. After labour was another story. I was seriously hungry after that.

[peppyre]

My sister had her first child in January and labour started Friday evening and ended at 8ish on Sat. Food didn't even cross her mind. Even after she had little Ava she didn't really want to eat. But on the Monday after the baby was born, I brought her some leftover Prime rib...I've never seen a woman dive into meat that way before. I would go for protein and fibre after the little one arrives.

[maggiethecat]

Well, I am the exception here. I hadn't eaten for eight hours between the bag of water breaking and actual labor --I was induced. Labor pains (intense) did not trump hunger. I dispatched my husband to find me a Snickers, and such is the maze that was Pres-St. Lukes that he barely made it back for the birth of our daughter. I never ate the candy bar, but you might want to have a Milky Way in your pocket.

I can absolutely agree with the fierce hunger after childbirth. I tore into those slimy hospital eggs and soggy toast as if it were ambrosia. Do better by her: show up with a great breakfast. And good luck.

[therese]

Also apparently an exception here: absolutely starving during my first labor, and husband's watching a Braves game during the proceedings (including extraordinarily graphic ads for Church's fried chicken) will never, ever be forgotten.

Food's discouraged during labor because of the medical establishment's assumption that you may need to be whisked off for emergency C-section at a moment's notice, and the more recently you've eaten the more likely that you'll vomit under anesthesia and aspirate said vomit into your lungs (icky, yes, but that's what it means) and die, and your survivors will sue. So we labor without so much as a glass of water to comfort us.

At a certain point during labor with my first child my husband pointed out that I was perhaps consuming rather more ice chips than I was supposed to. I responded "F*ck that, go get me more ice".

Familiar with the vagaries of hospital meal service, I insisted that dinner be ordered for me that night, and that the tray be held until I'd delivered (at about 8 PM). Said meal had, unfortunately, been either consumed by a staff member or returned to the kitchen, so I was left to dine on saltines and cranberry juice. Lots of saltines and cranberry juice.

Second labor only lasted an hour or so. Much easier all around.

Anyway, once the precious bundle's been delivered you should show up with enormous amounts of food. And really delicious food if you can manage it: eggs Benedict, chilaquiles, pain au chocolat, whatever, just make sure it's great and that there's a lot of it.

[ladyyoung98]

th eonly time i was ever in labor that any kind of food was given was during my last one..but it was only a popsiclethe c section issue isnt the only reason they dont advize eating..u can slo toss your cookies during hard labor as well since the strain of bearing down can also cause you to throw up...while hopsital meals in maternity are actually getting better in many hospitals..much of the time you are stuck with what they give you as a meal right after you deliver...soo that beign the case id say//bring her whatever her favorite food is cuz you can be damn sure that no matter how good the meal might be afterwards..it could still eb hours befroe she gets it

[daniellewiley]

I'm an exception too. I ate during the first part of my labor. My total labor was 21 hours. We did the Bradley method, which suggests you stay at home as long as possible. I was home for the first 12 hours. I ate some chicken broth with noodles, some cottage cheese and some apple cider. I was afraid to eat b/c of all of the information from the medical establishment, but I knew b/c of Bradley, that I'd likely be OK with eating. So.... I ate bland comfort foods.

Once we got to the hospital, my labor turned quite hard, and I wasn't hungry anymore. Didn't barf, but wasn't hungry.

Our hospital was quite wonderful, and had homemade soup available at all times in the hospitality room - I ate a LOT of it after the birth.

[touaregsand]

Starving and thirsty both times. 12-13 hours of labor both times. Pitocin and epidural both times. Eating during labor was forbidden, just ice chips, no water. I just the let the water melt and drank it. This hospital was pretty good about food after delivery. They provided a meal immediately afterwards and even asked me if I wanted Korean seaweed soup. I'm in LA, so the staff was multi-cultural, as well as the moms giving birth.

[therese]

c section  issue  isnt the only reason  they dont  advize  eating..u can slo  toss  your  cookies  during  hard  labor  as well  since  the strain of  bearing  down  can  also  cause  you to throw  up...

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Very true, but as you're conscious you won't aspirate it back into your lungs, so no big deal.

Once a woman's labor is really rolling along she's not likely to be too hungry. But if she ends up in a prolonged labor (like my first, with spontaneously ruptured membranes and no real labor for 12 long food- and drinkless hours before pitocin was started, and then another 10 long food- and drinkless hours on pitocin before the final happy moment) she may be very hungry indeed. Food would have been a big help for me, but since I'd ruptured I couldn't stay home like danielle and eat enough to keep my energy up.

Sounds like touaregsand and danielle both had much better post-partum meal options than the truly dreadful heart healthy meals offered after the birth of my second child at Stanford (in Palo Alto, CA). It would have taken six of them to make a reasonable meal. I was happy to leave the hospital in well under 24 hours after delivery just so that I could get some actual food.

Let's see, some other things that I would have loved post-partum: dim sum, foie gras, sashimi...

[hjshorter]

Two surprise c-sections here, and neither hospital allowed me to eat after surgery until after they were sure my system had resumed functioning - and then it was clear liquids for 24 hours after that. Torture! With my daughter, breakfast on Friday was the last meal until Saturday night when they brought me a tray of jello and apple juice. I made them bring me another and was still ready to eat the tray. If this happens to your wife, stop and pick up a BLT for her as soon as she's allowed to eat.

[Chris Amirault]

You folks are great! Thanks for lots of swell ideas. (Andrea agrees, though at the moment she's back to sleep after waking both of us up -- it's 5 am!) I think I need to have a courier on-call to get dim sum from a place about 15 minutes away from the hospital. I love my partner and don't want her first post-birth meal to be cold char siu bao, eh? Pain au chocolat, a BLT, and a few other things here would probably travel even better.

[Mooshmouse]

Once a woman's labor is really rolling along she's not likely to be too hungry. But if she ends up in a prolonged labor (like my first, with spontaneously ruptured membranes and no real labor for 12 long food- and drinkless hours before pitocin was started, and then another 10 long food- and drinkless hours on pitocin before the final happy moment) she may be very hungry indeed.

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After nothing but ice chips and water for hours, one nurse had the bright idea of bringing me a fruit-flavoured popsicle... the old-fashioned cheap-as-borscht kind from when I was a kid... and I could've sworn it was food from the gods. I ate three in a row -- two orange and one pink if I remember correctly -- and they went a long way in upping my flagging blood-sugar level. Check with your hospital or birthing centre as some of them actually keep popsicles on hand for just such an occasion.

[torakris]

Don't women love to talk about their births...

Add me to the group that never event hought about food during my labors, of course I also went into labor less than hour after a huge meal with all 3 kids. Pizza for the first, steak for the second and sweet and sour pork for the third, the longest I was in labor was 5 hours so I guess I didn't have time to get hungry again.

after the births all I wanted was sour patch kids (a sour-sweet gummy snack), it is my favorite food in the world and unfortunately not available in Japan so I settled for M&M's my second favorite food.... My wonderful husband brought a bag of M&M's every time he came to visit (in Japan it is a 6 day stay for a normal birth....)

[Trishiad]

add me to tlhe list of not hungry's. although normally i need to know where my next meal will be coming from, eating during labor never even occurred to me. however, i should add that i had gestational diabetes so my after labor bag was packed with fudge, cookies, and hostess snowballs. gross, i know. but mmmmm sweet.

someone brought me homemade zucchini bread which i thought was just perfect. i just nibbled each time i woke to nurse the baby. it wasn't until after we came home that i started to demand huge bowls of spaghetti every 30 minutes. nursing makes a girl hungry, stock the kitchen, i beg you.

happy babying

[tejon]

I was hungry during only one of my two labors. The first was induced, and I had pre-ecclampsia and was pretty sick going into things and had no desire whatsoever for food of any kind. My second birth was very, very long and hard, and I was hungry well into active labor. Had my husband run and get me a 7 layer burrito hours before my second son was born, and we managed to positively thrill the L&D nurse when we gave her one as well.

Now, right after birth is a whole different story. I wanted FOOD, RIGHT NOW. Even hospital food was like nectar itself. Though I would have been far happier to skip the hospital drek, truth be told.

[bavila]

Not hungry during labor here, either -- mainly thirsty. Spend some time stocking up meals in the freezer at home for baby and mom's return. You'll be so sleep deprived (don't let the first few days of baby sleeping almost non-stop fool you) that you won't have much energy to prepare yummy healthy meals. Good luck!

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks, everyone! Andrea's scheduled to be induced on Thursday, so we'll keep all of your ideas in mind. Methinks that Andrea will have one of the "get that food away from me" labors, but we'll see.

Soon thereafter, perhaps we'll be speculating on possible foods to sneak into a newborn's breast milk diet. Can't get her started too early, you know!

[jsolomon]

Dude, after the pain/anguish/physical output/emotional rollercoaster/hormonal upheaval that a woman goes through to bring a screaming milkmonster into the world, you'd better get her something good, or I'll hold the nurses back to let her beat you over the head with one of those hospital trays.

The courier is a great a idea. What she thinks she'll want midway through labor (or even once the contractions get close) will likely be a far cry from what she wants afterward.

My suggestion, though, is in the meantime, between when she's finished and the courier is still on the way, produce a few of her favorite pickles. After that much sweat and effort, the sour/salt flavors will stimulate her salivary glands to produce and remove the cottonmouth and the sour/sugar will help to quickly recover those flagging glucose levels.

Also, bravo on planning to start your child on foods early. May you both have a wonderful experience... better yet, have the experience for me. I'm a confirmed non-father.

[tejon]

Soon thereafter, perhaps we'll be speculating on possible foods to sneak into a newborn's breast milk diet. Can't get her started too early, you know!

Ah, but did you know your not-quite-newborn has already been sampling everything Andrea has been eating. Food consumed by mom actually flavors the amniotic fluid, which is then tasted by the baby in utero. The handy part of this - whatever the maternal diet was is already familiar and expected as flavors by the newborn, so there is no need to make changes in diet while nursing. Foods and seasonings consumed *do* flavor the breastmilk, which gives you a great head start in acclimating the baby to whatever you wish

[therese]

Thanks, everyone! Andrea's scheduled to be induced on Thursday, so we'll keep all of your ideas in mind. Methinks that Andrea will have one of the "get that food away from me" labors, but we'll see.

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Maybe, maybe not. Induced labors are not infrequently long and tedious, and assuming that she gets pitocin she'll almost certainly get an epidural, which will control all or most of the pain but then she won't be distracted from her hunger. Provide her with as much nourishment as the hospital will permit and she wants. If this requires that you move heaven and earth, well, sometimes you have to move heaven and earth.

The courier's a great idea, but I'd have something really amazingly great on hand for immediate consumption, something that doesn't require any real prep. Some great cheese, fresh fruit, juice. I'm pretty sure I was bolting juice before my episiotomy repair.

As for breast milk, it won't come in for several (or more) days. The baby will sleep, so should you.

[Chris Amirault]

I think we'll be packing some lotus leaf rice packs from our last dim sum visit, left over "midnight tagliatelle" from Al Forno (our celebration meal last night), some aged goat cheese with crackers, fruit, Diet Coke (that's for me), and a few other things. Thanks for all the suggestions. During the day Thursday, feel free to send positive thoughts Providence-way!!

[therese]

I think we'll be packing some lotus leaf rice packs from our last dim sum visit, left over "midnight tagliatelle" from Al Forno (our celebration meal last night), some aged goat cheese with crackers, fruit, Diet Coke (that's for me), and a few other things. Thanks for all the suggestions. During the day Thursday, feel free to send positive thoughts Providence-way!!

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Here's some advance positive thinking (including the ardent hope that she goes into spontaneous and vigorous labor immediately after an excellent meal this evening, thereby avoiding the fun of induction).

Oh, and you left out chocolate. And champagne.

[Tough Cookie]

Oh, and you left out chocolate. And champagne.

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I totally agree. Champagne is the only way to go.

Good luck and congratulations!