The effect of food intake during labor on maternal outcomes: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The “nil by mouth” policy of women during labor is an unnecessary medical intervention however no science evidence has supported it. Up to now the finding from trials, which examined the effecting during labor on birth outcomes, does not provide convincing evidence to change practice. Changing policy NPO for women during labor require many trials. This study examined the effect of food intake during the first stage of labor on maternal and fetal outcomes in the low-risk pregnant women. This study is a randomized clinical trial which was done in 22 Bahman hospital in Gonabad. 180 low-risk pregnant women in active phase of labor randomly were assigned to either an intervention or usual care group. Women in the intervention group (n=87) were selected and received one of the three diets (three dates and water or three dates and tea or 110 cc of orange juice) during the active phase of labor. Conversely, the control group (n=90) underwent fasting. The second phase of labor duration was smaller than that of the control (p=0.047). The incidence of vomiting and active stage labor length were unaffected by food intake. The intake of carbohydrate foods during labor cause the reduction of the second stage of labor duration in spit of lack of accelerated vomiting incidence.