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Many hospitals and birthing centers encourage fasting or clear liquids in an effort to avoid pulmonary aspiration during labor, especially if emergency cesarean delivery and general anesthesia might be required. Investigators in a London hospital randomized 2400 nulliparous laboring women to low-fat, low-residue diets or water alone to determine whether food consumption during labor affected rates of spontaneous vaginal deliveries, duration of labor, incidence of vomiting, or neonatal outcomes. Women who were at risk for cesarean delivery, who were in severe pain, or who intended to use intravenous opioids were excluded (epidural anesthesia or nitrous oxide and oxygen were permitted).
About one quarter of participants did not adhere to their…