Moms, giving birth is about to get a little more bearable: You can now chow down in the delivery room. Matzah ball soup, anyone?
This week, the American Society of Anesthesiologists reported the results of a study that shows most women benefit from eating during labor. Well, you can eat a light meal, anyway. Of course, before you get too excited, it is important to ask your doctor beforehand, since you have to be at low risk for aspiration.
In the past, women could only eat popsicles and ice chips during labor (AKA frozen water), in fear of women choking and inhaling food into the lungs, because of the use of anesthesia in deliveries.
READ: WATCH: Fearless Woman Dances Through Labor Pains
I mean, seriously. Giving birth takes a lot of energy, and clearly calories don’t replenish out of thin air. According to the ASA press release, women in labor actually expend the same amount of energy and calories as a marathon runner. Think about that for a second.
While guidelines exist for safety purposes–and we definitely want moms to be safe while giving birth–we also don’t want anyone suffering if they don’t need to be. Thanks to science, now moms don’t have to suffer quite as much.