Pepper Mint Birth Services

Evidence supports eating and drinking freely while in labor! It can even shorten your labor and obviously lead to higher satisfaction in nourishment while laboring!
While most hospitals have varying policies regarding if someone’s on pitocin or have an epidural what should be known is policy isn’t law. Making sure you truly do your own research on these is important!
It’s pretty uncommon for people to still eat a solid diet while having an epidural and it’s strongly suggested that patients consume a clear liquids diet while having an epidural. The main risk is if there was an emergency and someone needed a cesarean AND the epidural wasn’t working or due to safety generally anesthesia was still required there could be a risk of aspiration while under.
Patients just on pitocin but no epidural should certainly still be able to eat freely!
While the general recommendation is as long as you don’t have an epidural you should be able to eat whatever you want and if you have an epidural you should only consume clear liquids the evidence is very dated and some clients will still choose to expertise their autonomy and eat some selected foods regardless.
The newest (2024) Randomized Controlled Trial studied laboring patients with epidurals compared:
• Eating normally
• Clear fluids only
Findings
• No difference in cesarean rates
• No difference in maternal or neonatal outcomes
• No aspiration events reported

Researchers concluded that eating during labor did not worsen outcomes, though individual risk should still be considered. (Pubmed)

“Wellllll ya live and ya learn” or “I didn’t know what I didn’t know” is not a fun way to reflect on your birth. Educate yourself! Advocate for yourself! And hiring a doula can help!