Light eating fine during labour

Eating small amounts of food during labour has no adverse effect on outcomes for the mother or baby, British researchers report today.

Some obstetric guidelines discourage eating during labour due to supposed links with complications such as food or gastric acid entering the lungs or because it might be risky if a general anaesthetic is needed.

But some doctors and midwives have argued that the policy of routine fasting during labour can be detrimental.

So to investigate the effects, Professor Andrew Shennan of King’s College London, UK, and colleagues gathered information on 2,426 women giving birth at London’s Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital. The women consumed either “a light diet” such as bread, biscuits, fruit, low fat yoghurt, isotonic drinks or fruit juice, or water during labour.

Rates of unassisted vaginal delivery were equal in both groups (about 44 per cent), and “no clinically important differences were found in the duration of labour, caesarean delivery rate, or the rate of vomiting”, the team reports. The infants were unaffected.

On the website of the British Medical Journal, the researchers say that women who eat light, easily digestible foods during labour “should be advised that this will not improve their obstetric and neonatal outcome”.

They write: “Denial of food can be seen as authoritarian and intimidating, which may for some women increase feelings of fear and apprehension during labour. Eating and drinking may allow mothers to feel normal and healthy.”

In an editorial, Professor Soo Downe of the University of Central Lancashire, UK, says this “long overdue” study is “an excellent starting point for future clinical policies”.

O’Sullivan, G. et al. Effect of food intake during labour on obstetric outcome: randomised controlled trial. The British Medical Journal, 2009;338:b784.

Downe, S. Eating a light diet during labour. The British Medical Journal, 2009;338:b732.