Fueling Your Body for birth
As your due date approaches you may be wondering what and when you should eat before labor, during labor and afterwards.
So for the weeks leading up to your due date, I want you to really focus on fueling your body. Especially at night time, have a good meal and if you're not having any issues with blood sugar, have a nice big calorie-dense carb-filled meal. A lot of times labor tends to start during the night. So imagine what it would be like to start labor after not eating dinner, and then not feeling hungry during labor. What if your labor lasts 24 hours… and then you haven't eaten in two days. That is not fun and that is not productive or helping you. So eat a lot and often, while still listening to your body, of course. As soon as you realize that labor might be starting, have a nice calorie-dense meal.
If you wake up in the middle of the night and your contractions are already starting, have your partner or have someone whip you up some food so that you can have that fuel that you need to continue laboring for possibly multiple days. Once you're in active labor where contractions are closer than a few minutes apart, you won’t be interested in food, so don't say “I'll eat later”, because you probably won't eat later. As for types of food to eat when you realize that you're in labor, you’ll need easy-to-digest food. So think toast, eggs, rice, fruit, smoothies, yogurt. These are quick to digest and they're not going to leave you feeling super heavy.
And then as you get into active labor and through transition and even pushing… I really want you to switch your focus to hydration. And getting liquids that are full of electrolytes and calories whether that's juice, coconut water, lemonade with honey in it, or bone broth. You want to be on the same page as your birth team for this because you're not going to be thinking about drinking. Your birth team should be offering you fluids after every second contraction and alternating between just water, and then something else that has electrolytes and calories. Something that's really a good idea is to have all of those drinks prepared and ready for your team to grab as needed. So maybe even getting some mini water bottles or prepping small cups with lids and straws full of bone broth or coconut water or juice or whatever.
And then I also want you to think about what you're going to eat after your baby is born. Typically we'd really love to see you eat as soon as you're in bed and coming down from your oxytocin high, and your placenta is born, that's the perfect time for someone to walk through that door with a meal for you. Take some time to think about what type of meal you might want, and again make sure your team knows to do this, because a lot of times they might even be excited and flustered and forget that you've been laboring for three days and need some food. So, there you have it, remember to eat often in late pregnancy, try not to skip dinner ever, and then have snacks on hand for early labor, toast or banana or fruit or eggs. Make sure you've thought about hydration and what you're going to drink beyond just regular water, and what meal are you going to plan on within a few hours after your baby comes.
Download this grocery list for you next shopping trip to enjoy in the weeks before birth and even after you give birth.
