In the eleven years since I got pregnant with our first baby, I’ve often laughed at changing recommendations. Both during various pregnancies and with each baby there seems to be a new recommendation or a change from past ones. Recent research may lead to changes in drinking water during labor.
With my kids, the nurses always started by asking how “well hydrated” I was when I got to the hospital. Eventually, they’d want to give IV fluids to “keep me well hydrated.” Similar advice is seen in pregnancy literature everywhere. As a result of these recommendations, women often begin drinking water early in labor and continue throughout labor.
According to recent research published in the British Journal of Obstetrics in Gynecology, women may actually be drinking too much water. For the study, 287 women in Sweden were allowed to drink water as much as they wanted during labor. The researchers noted how much water the women drank and took blood samples from the mother and cord blood samples.
Researchers found a correlation between the amount of water the women drank and a condition known as hyponatraemia, which results from a low level of sodium in the blood plasma. The condition is caused by drinking water excessively. It may actually be more likely to occur during labor because the body is less able to process excess water at this time.
The low sodium level in the blood can cause problems ranging from headaches to prolonged labor. Prolonged labor almost always puts mothers at risk of needing interventions, including c section. This would not likely happen with a fairly normal water intake, but with women drinking a lot of water in a short amount of time.
There are no official changes in the recommendations yet, but that may come if future studies confirm these results. No word on whether this research will ever result in nurses becoming less attached to the IV.
So where does that leave the average woman? How much water should you drink? When in doubt, I think the old wisdom is best for laboring women. Drink when you are thirsty. Don’t push it in an attempt to stay hydrated, but make sure you listen to your body and follow its signals. That is often the best advice for labor in general.
For more on the specific results of the study: http://www.rcog.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=97&PressReleaseID=221
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