Attitudes to oral feeding following Caesarean section

Authors: Worthington L.M.¹; Mulcahy A.J.²; White S.¹; Flynn P.J.²

Source: Anaesthesia, Volume 54, Number 3, March 1999 , pp. 292-296(5)

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Abstract:

In order to evaluate postoperative nutrition in women who have undergone Caesarean section, we conducted a national survey. Questionnaires were sent to 100 randomly selected obstetric units in the UK, and were completed and returned by senior midwives. We found that that only 21.5% of units had a departmental policy concerning feeding after Caesarean section. Midwives decided when women could eat and drink in the majority of obstetric units (78.5%), often without the help of guidelines. The period of postoperative starvation was found to vary greatly, from < 1 h in some units to > 24 h in others. We suggest that all obstetric units should produce guidelines in order to rationalise postoperative feeding for women following Caesarean section.

Keywords: Anaesthesia; obstetric; Feeding; postoperative

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2044.1999.00740.x

Affiliations: 1: 1 Specialist Regsitrars, 2: 2 Senior Lecturer, Department of Anaesthesia, The Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, London E1 1BB, UK

Publication date: 1999-03-01