For a long time, entering a hospital to give birth meant for the parturient to stop eating and drinking until the baby was born.
The reason for this measure was that, in the case of an urgent caesarean section with general anesthesia, the so-called Mendelson syndrome (pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents) could occur.
However, when the pregnancy is low risk and therefore no use of general anesthesia is used, there is no scientific evidence to say that eating and drinking during childbirth poses any risk.
This statement comes from a study funded by the National Institute for Health Research in the United Kingdom in which 3,130 women have been investigated and it is concluded that there are no risks or benefits associated with eating or drinking during childbirth , regardless of what drink or food the woman asks for.
It is for this reason that before a woman whose dilation phase is several hours she can (and should be) offered a drink and / or food. The sensations that each mother has will cause some to ask to eat, because they need to recover energy and others, with less hunger, request a drink to quench their thirst.
Regarding the women at high risk of needing anesthesia, there are no studies that assess the risks of eating and drinking during childbirth, so it is necessary to continue investigating before "raising the curfew" in this group of women.
In the birth of my first child, I remember that they offered nothing to eat or drink to my wife or her roommate, who was walking fan in hand waiting for more frequent contractions.
In the delivery of my second child, he was offered two glasses of juice, which he thanked very much. As he tells me, although he had been in labor for many hours, he did not feel like eating.
Some years ago, many women, aware of these conclusions in similar studies, requested in their birth plans to be able to eat and drink during the dilation phase if everything went well.
It seems to me therefore good news since gives women the ability to decide whether or not they want to drink or eat according to their feelings.
