Date consumption & Labour

When it comes to having babies, the whole process, and concept can be extremely overwhelming! When it comes to preparing for labour there are a number of things that can help you to prepare naturally. One method that I will accept with open arms is consuming dates! What a delicious way to prepare your body for labour!

The consumption of dates in the final month of pregnancy has been shown to improve labour and delivery outcomes (1). A study on 182 women consumed 70-76g of dates per day from the 37th week of gestation was effective in decreasing length of the labor processes and reduced the need of oxytocin for labor acceleration (510 minutes vs 906 minutes). Consumption of dates also resulted in a significant reduction in induction compared to non-date consumers(28% vs 47%). 

Another study also revealed the consumption of 60-67g of dates per day for the last month of pregnancy, until the onset of labour pains, was associated with greater dilation then their non-date-consuming counterparts!  

These statistics would encourage any late pregnant woman to consume 5-6 dates per day! 

 Serving suggestions would be, in my opinion DELICIOUS with nut butter & dark chocolate!

Yes thank you!

1.     Kordi, M., Meybodi, F. A., Tara, F., Fakari, F. R., Nemati, M., & Shakeri, M. (2017). Effect of Dates in Late Pregnancy on the Duration of Labor in Nulliparous Women. Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research, 22(5), 383-387.

2.     Al-kuran O, Al-mehaisen L, Bawadi H, et al. The effect of late pregnancy consumption of date fruit on labour and delivery. Journal of Obsetrics and Gynecology 2011;31(1):29-31.