nothing wrong with some snacks between contractions (link)
03.26.09 - edmonton journal - AFP article
as a middle-aged male, i don't see myself giving birth any time soon (no vagigi!), but in the off-chance that i do happen to find a suitable mate & impregnate her with my seed, i'm actually pretty psyched about going through all the stuff that leads up to child birth--the doctor visits, the classes, communicating with the baby while said baby is still in the womb, changes in diet for aforementioned mate, all that good stuff.
if that day comes, i hope to be ready. thanks to the info i've gathered from this recent edmonton journal article (via the AFP), i know that it's ok for me to bring a satchel full of snacks into the delivery room & feed them to my mate whilst she gives birth to our child. according to the article, the british medical journal did a study with almost 2,500 mothers, giving half the group only water during childbirth & letting the other half snack away. doctors have often advised against eating during this time, but as the study showed, the results yielded "virtually no difference between the groups"...so snack away!
i can only assume that being able to have something to eat or drink during childbirth probably helps out immensely, especially during the long, drawn-out births. it's my hope that snack & drink companies realize the potential market they have here. people are giving birth pretty much non-stop all day long.
picture it...gatorade could have pregnant mothers hocking their sport drink. snickers could create hilarious "not going anywhere for a while" commercials that take place right in the delivery room. it'd be perfect! also, in both cases, the mothers must be ridiculously sweaty. that just makes sense.