Reading things on Facebook make me really glad I am not having a hospital birth. My friend is having a (medically necessary) induction but they told her it might take 48 hours or more as she was an unfavorable induction candidate. Last night she posted that she was so incredibly hungry but they wouldn't let her eat!! I guess I don't see how starving a woman in labor for 48 hours makes any sense, but it's the hospitals policy to allow no food or drinks in labor, only ice chips.
This isn't meant to bash hospitals in general, just the ones around here seem really behind the times :S
Re: Reading things on FB
I am lucky to say that even though my hospital kinda has a no eating policy- I am with midwives so I won't have to deal with ANY hospital staff at all unless I have a transfer of care- So I definitely will be eating if I need to.
It is just silly to starve a woman- but I guess if they are inducing someone who is "unfavorable" they are probably betting she is going to end up in a c-section anyway.
They starved me for a full day before it was time to push with my induction. I started pushing before I was ready because I wanted food. The conversation went:
Me: "when I get him out I get to eat, right?"
Nurse: "yes"
Me: "I'm ready to push now."
Food is just one of my many many reasons for wanting a home birth this time.
I ate in the hospital...and I fed the doctor.
We were planning a homebirth, and I went in for a BPP at 3pm, wasn't seen until 4pm, was hooked to a monitor for 2 hours (at least), then had an US (part of BPP) which was about 40 minutes, then didn't hear anything until after 8pm, all together we decided to induce, and I was starving!!! (I was 22 days past EDD and hadn't eaten since like noon..way toooo long to go without food at that point.) So I sent my dad to the store to get food for all of us (he and my mom were there, DH was on his way (he had been at work), the MW was on her way, the doctor and nurses were there. So my dad got us fruits and bagels and other snacks. It was great.
Seriously, I think ppl should bring fruit baskets if they visit someone in the hospital the day they deliver...or if they deliver at home too. :-)
Food was some of the best gifts after M was born. I was too tired, achy, and bleeding to want to make something myself.
Morgan's Birth Story: http://www.fullcirclemidwifery.com/2009/06/morgans-birth/
Chloe's Birth Story: http://www.fullcirclemidwifery.com/2012/04/chloes-birth/
it makes me laught how stupid it really is. I work with cardiothoracic transplant patients and open heart patients in general. They never know when the organ will become available so anytime they come in, you know they've eaten fairly recently. And with any type of emergent surgery people do eat before hand. Have NEVER seen issues with it. If I get transferred and they try to tell me i can't eat, they will have a whole lot of fun with me
Breastfeeding and pregnant!
I hate this policy. I don't even know what my hospital's policy was, I just ate anyway. 90% of the time you are alone in your room (with DH and your other people) so it's not like they know anyway. My arguments are:
1. Labor was more physically exhausting than the 1/2 marathon I ran. I would never have expected to run that without nourishment or to keep up my energy without some fuel.
2. People get surgery all the time with a full stomach - think about the people who get in car accidents on the way home from a night out.