Le jeûne hydrique du per-partum. Vers de nouvelles pratiques ?

The longstanding response to the question of oral intake by the parturient has been simple since strict fasting was considered indispensable to avoid complications should general anesthesia be required during labor. Today however, opinions differ, certain authors noting the inconvenient effects of fasting: maternal discomfort, maternal and neonatal hypoglycemia, increased rate of instrumental extraction. The issue has been widely debated and have basically concerned per partum fluid intake. It appears that oral intake of solid foods, which is rarely requested by parturients, increases the risk of complications. The question of what these women actually request was the object of this study. What is the demand for fluid intake? What is the expected benefit? Our observations note that parturients complain regularly of thirst in the delivery room. There are many benefits of fluid intake: improved patient comfort, calming the thirst but also the anxiety. Current practices in French maternity wards, with a trend towards allowing some oral fluid intake, might evolve if resistance to change, as observed in the present work, were not so powerful.