"With enough butter, anything is good.” -Julia Childs
Julia has the right idea when it comes to cooking: more butter! Your diet might not agree, but your tastes buds sure do. As you know when that perfect recipe has the right amount of butter, your meal is amazing and your sense of taste is appeased. When it comes to labor, appealing to your sense of taste is just as important as it is in your favorite meal.
In our fourth blog in our series of talking about the importance of appealing to our senses, we are diving into understand taste. (See the other three parts here: smell, sight, and touch). Taste in a hospital can be a tricky subject as most hospitals do not allow you to eat once contractions start; however, there are some ways to follow the guidelines of the hospital while still having taste packed in your bag. In a birth center, you are more free to eat whatever and whenever you want. That being said, parents delivering at a birth center can still benefit from our tips here.
One of the best ways to get a specific taste in your mouth during the apex of a contraction is to have hard candy or mints. The hard exterior is going to last longer than just taking a bite. You will be able to suck on the object for a few minutes and that taste will remain. The other benefit of hard candies is you can customize the taste to your personal preferences. Love caramel? There’s a hard candy for that. Chocolate? Yes, of course. What is your favorite hard candy? Another great item to include in your birthing bag is a pack of your favorite mints. Mints are great because not only do they have the hard exterior similarly to hard candies, but they also can be refreshing. And after hours of contractions, you might not feel your freshest! With wintermint, spearmint, peppermint, cinnamon, and many others, you are sure to find a mint flavor that is going to be delicious, flavorful and refreshing.
A few of our favorite tastes:
- Chocolate anything! Candy, mint, anything, yes please
- We are partial to wintermint, especially the IceBreakers brand.
- Emily’s grandfather loved caramel, so Wether’s Candies have a special place in her heart.
Pro-Tip: Eat before you go into the hospital if you can! Those hours of labor can get even longer if you are hungry. Or try combining different flavors of broth once your admitted (chicken and vegetable are pretty awesome together!).
