IV Fluids

Intravenous Fluids

From The Official Lamaze Guide: Giving Birth with Confidence.

What to Know:

• Routine IV use restricts movement, decreases confidence, may over-hydrate mothers and may contribute to low blood sugar in newborns.
• Restricting eating and drinking in labor depletes a woman’s energy when she needs it most.
• The WHO recommends offering women fluids by mouth and eliminating routine IV use during labor.
• The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) recommends that low-risk laboring women be allowed to drink clear liquids (such as water, juice, carbonated drinks, clear tea, and black coffee).

You’ll need an IV if:

• You develop health problems or complications before or during labor.
• You’re at high risk for complications.
• Your labor is induced or speeded up with Pitocin.
• You have an epidural.

How to Avoid Unnecessary Use:

• Choose your caregiver and birth site carefully.
• Talk to your caregiver about your desire to eat, drink, and avoid unnecessary IV use.
• Confidently eat and drink while you labor at home.
• Labor at home as long as possible.

How to Keep Labor as Normal as Possible if You Will Need an IV:

• Labor at home as long as possible
• Eat and drink as your body commands while you’re at home.
• Suck on ice chips, Popsicles, or lollipops during labor.
• Walk around with your IV pole.
• Stay as active as possible.
• Remember that you don’t need the IV to have a safe birth and a healthy baby.

Read more about medical interventions:

• Induction by artificial rupture of membranes
• Induction with pitocin
• Epidural and anesthesia
• Movement restrictions
• Continuous electronic fetal monitoring (EFM)
• Directed pushing
• Episiotomy
• Cesarean surgery