What foods do you find work best during labor?

[DeChRi]

I am a vomiter when giving birth, but have to eat and drink to keep my energy up.  What are you favorite tummy easy things to eat and drink?

[Beccadoula]

I've heard from the midwife that I work with that any red or dark drink is likely to come back up.  I usually just recommend light foods that have a touch of protein - yogurt and eggs are both good choices. 

[dogmom327]

Sugar-free applesauce is my go-to item. It always tastes good/sweet and goes down easy. Even when I'm not in labor I think about being in labor when I eat it :)

[lifeguard]

I couldn't eat but having something to keep the energy up was important to me after the exhaustion I went through with my first birth. I brought protein shakes & a sports drink which worked well. I know neither are particularly natural but they worked well with my nutritional needs & were easy to consume when I didn't really feel like eating.

[rnra]

Honey sticks, slushies

[cristeen]

My drink of choice during DS' labor was coconut water/pineapple juice mixed.  The coconut water keeps you hydrated, and the pineapple juice makes it more palatable (sweeter).  I drank a case of coconut water and 3-ish quarts of juice. 

Between us all I think we went through 2 or 3 loaves of (fresh) bread for toast.  And a gallon bag of dried pears. 

I'm hoping to be a little more organized this time, but it may not happen. 

[DeChRi]

Great additions, thanks!

Adding applesauce and yogurt to my list. And coconut water I had forgotten about.  I have a protein bar recipe I will likely use too.  I tend to have long labors until about 5 or 6 cm that wear mean out. Then 5-10 cm happens in less than an hour (thus the vomiting) and baby come with a fast and hard 20 min of push.  

With my third I was really shot by the time I was pushing, despite food and drink. I think I need a little more umph this go around.

[AImom]

Thanks for the ideas. I know our hospitals here tend to not offer anything when you are in labor. I was so hungry I got a bad migraine and they gave me 8$/ea tylenol (I shoulda just gotten them out of my purse!). After that my only choice was apple juice from their family fridge thing. I didn't get sick until I had to use oxygen and the smell of the brand-new vinyl nose-cover-thing made me sick! After that I felt great .. but hungry. I actually heard that eating something can make labor better. Anyone else hear that?

[cat13]

I thought I'd be hungry during labor (I'm always hungry) but wasn't. But I was so glad my DH was firmly encouraging me to eat my birth snacks throughout labor, because it ended up being very long and physically demanding.  Because I wasn't hungry, things like sandwiches and protein bars sounded horrible to me, but I could force down yogurt & honey, coconut water with juice and bananas. It's great to have a variety.

[Quinalla]

My labor was so quick (6 hours) and started right after I had a big Chicken Pad Thai lunch that I didn't end up eating during labor, but if I had I would have tried string cheese, yogurt, blueberries, grapes, saltine crackers, goldfish, soup, Gatorade, not sure what else. My OB had said "we'll see" about me eating during labor in the hospital, so I planned to proceed to do it and act like I was supposed to be (not like the OB's get there until later anyway, my OB almost missed my birth ), but I was only in the hospital for a little while in labor, so it didn't end up being an issue. Man was I hungry afterwards though, even though really I was just eating dinner a touch late

[cat13]

Yea! Thai food started my labor too! This was only a few hours after getting checked by my MW who said I wasn't even 1cm and thank goodness she didn't need to cancel her weekend plans. :)

[UnassistedMomma]

Chicken broth was great for me - comfort food, nourishing, and not too messy if it comes up!

[Katie8681]

I ate about half of a large pepperoni pizza just before my labor started- I felt like I was STARVING! Once real contractions started, I was not at all hungry. I drank water but threw it up a couple of times. Luckily my active labor was pretty short, so it wasn't at all a big deal. I had every intention of eating at the hospital if I felt like it. A lot of women don't feel like eating when they're in active labor without an epidural though.

[DeChRi]

Despite not having epidurals, I'm always hungry during labor. Mainly because I have weird labors that work in spiurts.....like took 12 hr to get to 7cm, went to hospital then, stalled between 7 and 8 for about 10 hrs, then dilated to 10cm in about 3 contraxs. I was drinking coffee and eating a tuna sando before pushing, lol.

[Heather5581]

broth worked best for me