Top 10 foods for labour and birth

Labour and birth are a marathon, not a sprint. So you need long-lasting energy. Clinical nutritionist and mum Gina Urlich (nutritionbyginarose.com) shares the best foods to give you a boost when you’re preparing to give birth.

Delivering a baby is a high-energy exercise – the energy and caloric demands of a labouring woman are similar to those of marathon runners. So eating the right types of food in the early stages of labour can give you sustained energy to get you to the finish line.

And what an incredible prize you get at the end! A contracting uterus is the largest muscle in a woman’s body during childbirth, and it’s expending an incredible amount of energy, which means you’ll need nutrient dense-fuel to keep that muscle working at its best. A labouring woman will naturally put her energy into contracting the uterus to bring her baby earthside, and it will not use its resources on “non-vital” processes like digestion.

Early labour is a great opportunity to eat deeply nourishing foods that will fuel you for several hours.... BUY BUMP&baby ISSUE 8 FOR THE FULL STORY