9 months pregnant and fasting - does it really induce labor

amother

Red

Mon, Sep 25 2017, 10:51 pm

if you are well hydrated the day before you should be fine. By 1pm you will be starving ... but we all will be! By 7:30pm you will eat and lie down and probably be fine the next day. It only induces labor if you you completely dehydrated which you should not be if you take good care of yourself the day before.

amother

Puce

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 7:13 am

I fasted last year Y"K when I was 38 weeks. I had my baby at 41.5. I didn't have a single contraction.

heidi

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 7:22 am

amother wrote:

Was 9 months twice on Tisha B'Av and fasted the whole time, once even ran a Tisha B'Av camp! Didn't go into labor, babies born a week or so later.

Me too! Except for the tisha b'av camp

amother

Jetblack

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 7:23 am

I was in my ninth month three times on Yom Kippur. Fasted fully and each time I gave birth weeks later.

eschaya

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 2:20 pm

Once fasted on YK while in 9th month, started having regular contractions, was sure I'd give birth that night. But after rehydrating post fast the contractions eventually stopped and I gave birth 2 weeks later.
But with my second, was fasting on tisha beav and again was having frequent strong contractions. Was 31 weeks so my labor coach told me to stop fasting immediately. I drank 18 glasses of cranberry juice and my labor stopped. I felt so guilty b/c I had just 2 hours left to go of the fast. But then 2 weeks later I went into preterm labor (suspected due to dehydration) and it couldn't be stopped. Baby was on a ventilator for 4 days, in the NICU for 3 weeks. So I was no longer feeling guilty about breaking my fast on Tisha beav. If anything, it gave my baby an extra 2 essential weeks in the womb.
So I know that for me, fasting (ie, specifically the dehydration part) causes increased contractions. I feel this on a regular basis... when I start feeling increase in contractions I know its a warning to me to either drink, eat, or take it easy in some other fashion. Because of my history and a known irritable uterus, I did shiurim on tisha beav this year and was just given a psak to do the same on YK (will be 23 weeks only).
Of course, if one is already full term (36+ weeks) there really is no halachic or medical reason not to fast.

eschaya

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 2:22 pm

Btw, there is empirical evidence that fasting/dehydration DOES increase the likelihood of labor. Studies done in Israel show an increase in births on YK and the next day. And a recent study reports specifically an increase in preterm births as well.
But of course this is an average. It doesn't mean anything for specific women per se.

amother

Maroon

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 2:42 pm

eschaya wrote:

Of course, if one is already full term (36+ weeks) there really is no halachic or medical reason not to fast.

This is one thing I don't really understand... Let's say fasting puts you into labor and you're full term. Isn't it a really bad idea to enter the process of birthing a baby so weakened?

amother

Rose

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 2:45 pm

eschaya wrote:

It's interesting, because when I needed to be induced for going 2 weeks overdue, I officially should have gone in on a Friday but my doctor said to wait until Sunday (in Israel) because it's safer to give birth when the hospital is fully staffed. I waited over 12 hours on Sunday to have my induction started because it was a crowded day- I can't imagine it's as safe to give birth on YK (or right after) as a week later, even if you were 40 weeks on YK, just due to staff:patient ratios. To be clear, I'm talking about in Israel, where the number of women fasting would make staffing ratios an issue.

I was told to drink as normal on Tisha B'Av and in shiurim on YK because shiurim make the difference between keeping the fast d'oraita vs d'rabbanan which only applies to YK since Tisha B'Av is entirely d'rabbanan. I won't be in my ninth month yet on YK, but I believe my rav's general psak is to drink shiurim anyway- maybe on the basis that it's better to l'chatchila keep the fast d'oraita and break it d'rabbanan but be more likely to keep it d'oraita all the way through, rather than have a high chance of needing to break it d'oraita. 70 panim laTorah.

mha3484

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 2:46 pm

I think its really individual. My 3rd birth I was super dehydrated. Getting the IV in was horrible (my husband and I made a lot of jokes about my track marks lol) but go figure it was my fastest one. I think its hard to generalize.

ShabbosBaby

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 4:05 pm

My OB says that during during fast days there are way more moms giving birth than a regular day... so it must be true

Boca00

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 4:18 pm

I was due around yom Kippur last pregnancy and started getting contractions. I was excited to finally be sorta "on time". Of course, they stopped as soon as the fast was over, and I ended up being induced at 5 days late. So no guarantees...