Can Eating Dates Make Labour Easier?
If you’re here, there’s a good chance that you’ve been researching ways to make your birth easier. You’ve been practising your hypnobirthing techniques, you’ve made an amazing birth plan, you’ve given your birth partner a list of things you’d like them to do to support you through the labour process, you’ve read all the positive birth books and you’re watching positive birth videos like they’re going out of fashion.
What now?
Well, what if I told you that there’s something really useful (and tasty!) that you can start doing TODAY to potentially shorten your labour, make it easier and reduce the chances of having interventions? And guess what…this is scientifically proven!
It has been scientifically proven that eating dates (as in, the fruit) can do all of the things I just mentioned.
A study carried out on 69 women who ate 6 dates a day for 4 weeks before their due date (vs 45 who didn’t consume any dates) between 2007 and 2008 showed these findings:
“The women who consumed date fruit had significantly higher mean cervical dilatation upon admission compared with the non-date fruit consumers”
“Spontaneous labour occurred in 96% of those who consumed dates, compared with 79% women in the non-date fruit consumers”
“Use of prostin/synthetic oxytocin was significantly lower in women who consumed dates (28%), compared with the non-date fruit consumers (47%)”
“The mean latent phase of the first stage of labour was shorter in women who consumed date fruit compared with the non-date fruit consumer”
“It is concluded that the consumption of date fruit in the last 4 weeks before labour significantly reduced the need for induction and augmentation of labour, and produced a more favourable, but non-significant, delivery outcome.”
Isn’t that incredible!
Now I know that eating 6 dates a day may seem a little bit over whelming to some of you…I mean…that’s a whole lot of dates! And some of you may not even like them! But there are so many ways you can incorporate them into your diet without needing to just eat them on their own.
For example, you can put them in protein balls, in flapjacks…and if you scroll down, I’ve shared with you the recipe of the fruit smoothie with dates that I drank every day in my 3rd trimester with Annabelle.
Daily Smoothie for Last Trimester
Ingredients
4 medjool dates
1 cup strawberries
1/4 cup blueberries
1 banana
1 cup milk (or plant based alternative)
1/4 cup of oats
2 tblsp milled flaxseed
1 tsp cinnamon
Simply put all the ingredients into your smoothie mixer or blender and blend until smooth.
You can make this up in a large quantity and put in the fridge, drinking small quantities throughout the day if you like.
You can use fresh or frozen fruit, either is absolutely fine (frozen fruit works out a bit cheaper!)
Although I’ve noted this as a smoothie for your last trimester, there’s no reason you can’t drink this earlier in your pregnancy. It’s safe for all stages.
