Maybe ‘simple’ isn’t the optimal word, but I bet you are considering going out and buying some date fruit if you are close to delivering right now!
As delivery dates (no pun intended) near, many pregnant women search for things that they can do to bring their babies into the world peacefully, naturally and as simply as possible.
Enter the date fruit. Between 2007 and 2008, a study at Jordan University of Science and Technology was carried out to investigate the effect that date fruit has on labor. The study involved “69 women who consumed six date fruits per day for 4 weeks prior to their estimated date of delivery, compared with 45 women who consumed none”(PMID).
The results? 96 percent of those who consumed date fruit experienced spontaneous (no interventions used) labor, as opposed to 79 percent of women who didn’t consume dates. In addition, “the women who consumed date fruit had significantly higher mean cervical dilatation upon admission compared with the non-date fruit consumers, and a significantly higher proportion of intact membranes”(PMID). The first phase of labor was also shorter for the women who had eaten the date fruit.
Does this mean that every woman who eats dates in the manner studied will experience an easy labor – not by any means! BUT it does mean that it’s possible that eating dates for a full month before delivery may help to make things smoother for mom and baby and I’ll take that on any labor day!
On a side note, dates are loaded in fiber and are a good source of potassium, copper (an essential trace mineral), magnesium and vitamin B-6.
Check out some of the comments from people who tried it!
Thank you to Gaia Midwifery for bringing this to my attention.
Source: PMID: 21280989
[PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
This a flawed study where the authors had trouble getting the control group to stop eating dates. Perhaps we should concentrate on helping women to trust their bodies to give birth. Any “props” we push onto women can take away from the innate truth i. e. that women give birth and are built to do so.
I completely agree with you about empowering women and that they are built to give birth.I don’t think that eating dates takes away from that – heck even if its placebo, but it helps to make a woman feel that she is more able to birth naturally, that’s a plus. I would like to know how you know this is a flawed study…
Oh my goodness, that is actually fascinating! I had no idea, and it’s an actually study, not only lore, love it.