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Nutrition and Fluid Balance During Labor; Maternal Optimization and Fetal Resuscitation

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Epidural Labor Analgesia

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Abstract

Medicalization of the process of labor over a century has led to the imposition of many practices on women with regard to eating and drinking; many of these lack any evidence as well as logic by our current standards. Since Mendelson published his classic description of pulmonary aspiration in 1946 [1], it has become common practice to restrict oral intake during labor in order to reduce the risk of maternal mortality and morbidity from pulmonary aspiration of stomach contents should a general anesthetic be required. This accords both with the potential for unanticipated anesthesia during childbirth, as well as the physiological changes in pregnancy that are evident most clearly in the frequent occurrence of severe vomiting during labor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anaesthesia, St Michael’s Hospital, Southwell St, Bristol, BS2 8EG, UK

    Ruth Murphy & Stephen Michael Kinsella

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  1. Ruth Murphy
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  2. Stephen Michael Kinsella
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Correspondence to Stephen Michael Kinsella .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Anesthesiolgy, Città di Roma Hospital, Rome, Italy

    Giorgio Capogna

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Murphy, R., Kinsella, S.M. (2015). Nutrition and Fluid Balance During Labor; Maternal Optimization and Fetal Resuscitation. In: Capogna, G. (eds) Epidural Labor Analgesia. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13890-9_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13890-9_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-13889-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-13890-9

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