Throwing up is awful. And it’s even more miserable while in labor. However, there are many ways to stop throwing up during labor, or at least minimize it. Before we jump in, let’s learn a little bit about why a woman may begin throwing up in labor, what it means and when it can happen. Let’s get started!
When Can Throwing Up During Labor Happen?
Vomiting during labor may come with little or no warning. Other women, however, may start out with a little nausea or gagging and then blossom into full blown vomiting. Some women are blessed to experience dry heaving as well.
Throwing up during labor can happen during any part of the experience – early, active, transition or even pushing!
In my experience, throwing up during labor happens most often right before or during transition, and less often as an early sign of labor. It’s a sign post of transition – which means things are progressing and pushing may happen sooner rather than later!
Throwing up during labor can be caused by hormonal fluctuations or even because of a vaginal exam.
Throwing up discriminates to no one and happens during any kind of birth – vaginal or cesarean.
Some women experience vomiting throughout their entire natural labor. And some women throw up for one labor, but not for their next.
And thankfully, many women don’t throw up at all!
(Feeling queasy yet?)
Is Throwing Up During Labor Helpful?
As a doula, when I see a woman throw up in labor I get excited. No, I am not a mean, crazy doula, but an excited doula because I know vomiting can mean that TRANSITION is coming (is here?) which means PUSHING is coming which means MAMA IS ALMOST DONE! Can I get an amen?!
Ladies, throwing up during labor can help things to progress. It can help speed dilation. It can even cause mom’s water to break!
If anything positive comes from feeling sick during labor, let it be encouragement that labor is progressing, you’re getting closer to the finish line and you get to meet your baby soon. This change of mindset can be that boost of morale that will fuel you through the finish line!
PRO TIP: The puke bags in the hospital rooms are far superior to any bowl, trashcan or toilet. These puke bags make vomiting a breeze and cleaning up vomit never looked so easy! If you feel like throwing up, find one of these bad boys – it’s your new best friend!
Remedies for Throwing Up During Labor
Here are the best remedies to minimize or stop throwing up during labor.
Stay Hydrated
Throwing up during labor can lead to dehydration, which is not helpful for mom or baby.
According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists “Without adequate nutrition, women’s bodies will begin to use fat as an energy source, increasing acidity of the blood in the mother and infant, potentially reducing uterine contractions and leading to longer labor and lower health scores in newborns. Additionally, the studies suggest that fasting can cause emotional stress, potentially moving blood away from the uterus and placenta, lengthening labor and contributing to distress of the fetus.”
Stay hydrated! When in labor you should continue to meet your daily intake of water requirements, if not even more. I like to stick to the 8 ounces of fluids per hour in labor rule.
Chew on ice if drinking isn’t working. DIY electrolyte cubes are the perfect remedy to prevent dehydration during times of nausea and vomiting.
If it comes down to it, don’t be afraid of getting a bag of IV fluids. It’s a simple fix to a potentially big problem.
Eat and Drink Bland Food and Beverages
Sometimes certain foods and beverages may be the culprit behind vomiting during labor. If this is the case, focus on drinking water instead of juices and bland foods such as crackers, broth, banana, etc. When packing a hospital bag for birth make sure to pack a variety of snacks for labor. You never know what will be most helpful!
Essential Oils
The three essential oils I take to every birth are lavender, lemon and peppermint. Lemon and peppermint, but especially lemon, are perfect to help prevent, stop or ease vomiting during labor.
The easiest way to use an essential oil during labor is to sniff it straight out of the bottle or put a few drops on the cap and sniff the cap. A cotton ball works well too.
PRO TIP: Put a drop of your most helpful essential oil on the rim of a hospital puke bag. It will help to vomit less but will also help to not smell your own vomit. Ew.
Ginger Tincture
Another remedy to alleviate throwing up during labor is to take a few drops of a ginger tincture.
You know how when you were little your mom gave you ginger ale to calm a queasy tummy? Mother knows best! Ginger has been shown to effectively help with mild vomiting and nausea.
However, conventional ginger ale likely has no ginger in it. For the full effect, you’ll want to use real ginger. A ginger tincture is easy, portable, shelf-stable and effective.
To use, put a few drops in a small amount of tea, water or juice. It’s quite strong!
Alcohol Prep Wipes
Another easy way to ease vomiting during labor is to grab one of those alcohol prep wipes, open it up and sniff it. Nurses and other care providers swear by this remedy – it works and best of all these things are always around.
Hydrotherapy
I’ve heard mixed reviews on this, but for what it’s worth some women have found relief from vomiting during labor by getting in the tub or shower. Hey, it doesn’t hurt to try! One of the biggest helps during all of labor is that if something isn’t working, try something new.
I threw up during my second birth… but not while I was in the birth pool!
Cold Washcloth or Ice
For many women, a cool wash cloth on the neck or face is extremely helpful when dealing with vomiting during labor. For an added effect, add ONE drop of peppermint essential oil for a pleasant cooling sensation. (Caution: Be sure to fold the wash cloth so that the essential oil doesn’t touch the laboring mother’s skin.)
Another way to alleviate vomiting is to place ice on the back of the neck. Of course, use a bag and/or washcloth so that the ice isn’t directly on mom’s skin. Unless she likes it! If she likes it, keep doing whatever she says.
Pharmaceuticals
Sometimes, it is wise and compassionate to use medicine to alleviate nausea and vomiting during labor. Talk with your care provider to determine the best course of action for you and your family.
Sometimes an antacid like Zantac can be very helpful to minimize nausea and vomiting.
However, sometimes Zantac isn’t enough and medicines like Zofran or Phenergan are needed. To read more about Zofran head on over here. From what I’ve heard, the biggest complaint with Phenergan is constipation.
Delivery
Unfortunately, some women find relief from vomiting during labor only after giving birth. For those that will experience this, my heart goes to you. Stay the course, keep hydrated and know that you can do anything for a day. You’ve got this, mama!
Throwing Up During Labor
Did you throw up during labor? Did anything help? Leave me a comment and let me know your experience.
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Carolyn says
I felt a bit queasy as soon as I went into labor and started vomiting shortly after the midwives arrived and I was only 4cms. I had thought that if I started vomiting it would be encouraging to think that I was entering transition but obviously at 4cms I wasn’t, so that was discouraging. I tried to stay hydrated and eat little bits of food but I just kept vomiting it all back up. I threw up every couple contractions until I hit transition and then thankfully stopped during transition and pushing. By that time I was so exhausted from not having anything stay in my stomach for hours. I pushed for over two hours and I’m pretty convinced that it wouldn’t have taken so long if I’d managed to keep some food down and have more energy at that point. If I could change one thing about my labor it would be that I wouldn’t vomit. It made it very difficult to focus on breathing through contractions when my stomach was lurching involuntarily and like I said, I could have used the extra energy from keeping something down. I hope to be better prepared next time. I knew of some of these ideas and had some of the things on hand to help alleviate nausea but I was so out of it that I couldn’t formulate the thought/words to ask someone to put a drop of peppermint on a cloth for me or give me some tincture.
Sarah says
I threw up a lot. I had terrible back labor for over 24 hours. I threw up when I was only around 2 cm, and again later when I was around 4 cm and then 6 cm… not fun. After 48+ hours of labor and trying everything, I had to have a C-section for a variety of reasons, and I threw up (more like dry heaved, as I didn’t have anything left in me) during that. 🙁
JG says
Hello, I am due in 5 days and am trying to decide whether or not to get the anti-nausea meds at the hospital when nausea waves hit (last time, I did). Now, however, I have heard that vomiting can actually help advance contractions/dilation. In your opinion (Obviously I know it’s a matter of judgement, not medical necessity), is the advantage of vomiting to advance labor ENOUGH to offset the obvious negatives of nausea/vomiting? Does Dry Heaving have the same benefits during labor as vomiting? I know this is an odd question, but I want my labor to advance as quickly and seamlessly as possible even if I have to endure nausea/dry heaving/vomiting.
Lindsey Morrow says
Hmmmmm that’s a tough question. Obviously, talk with your care provider and get their opinion. They know more about you and the drugs more than I ever could. If it were me I tend to always err on the side of med free. However if I were dehydrated or my blood sugar was low I would re-evaluate with my care provider. I wouldn’t necessarily be concerned about whether or not the pressure from vomiting was helpful for my progress. Check out my post about asking really good questions to make better decisions when working with a care provider. https://www.motherrisingbirth.com/2016/02/brain-acronym.html
Sarah says
I am so glad I found this! Makes me feel (unfortunately) that I’m not the only one. With both births – one in a hospital and one at a birth center – I dry heaved at the peak of every contraction. For hours. It was so horrible and infuriating! Going forward, I’ll know to be better prepared. Thank you for writing this!
Cheryl Downs says
My daughter started barfing before she even had contractions. She thought she had food poisoning. Doctor sent her to the hospital & they gave her an epidural with DRAMATIC results! It stopped her barfing & the rest of her labor was uneventful. Basically we just sat around until she felt she needed to poop & I knew that was the start of delivery, called the nurse & very shortly after welcomed my first grandchild.
Jess says
I’m so happy to hear I’m not the only one. I started vomiting as soon as my contractions started to intensify. Was having contractions every 2mins from the beginning of early labour and vomiting between every single one. Was so hard to manage pain when I was struggling to even breathe. I had to have anti nausea drugs injected just to ease it so I could try to regain some sort of focus.
Hannah says
I threw up several times during active labor (contractions maybe 5 mins apart). It was triggered any time I tried to lay down on my back. Which was miserable because I was tired and longed to lay down…! They tried the peppermint oil, but it didn’t seem to do much if I tried to lay down again. I don’t remember specificly the time frame, but it was probably about 4 hours before little man was born, so still a little while before transition.
Elizabeth says
What helped me during nausea and vomiting spells was being hooked up to an IV of fluids, ice chips/drinking cold water and deep breathing techniques. Make sure you are on an IV to keep your hydration up during labor at all times. It will be your best friend not your enemy. Never eat during labor all you do is make vomitting worse. The reason for that is because that’s our bodies natural response system when we go thru anything traumatic. Remember you’re going thru a trauma after birth your body immediately like a rubber band bounces back. So my advice let your body do what it does naturally and don’t fight back. Sometimes you will have to force your gag reflex to stop dry heaving to do that, embrace the pain don’t fight it, and deep breathe your way thru your dry heaves.
Ginny may miller says
Threw up three times, no transition. Never progressed past 5cm.
Had to have a c-section.
Katelyn says
I had nausea and vomiting throughout my labor. I vomited for the first time several hours before I went in to the hospital, and I remained nauseated until about an hour after birth. Contractions and walking exacerbated my nausea. Laying still helped the most, but of course, that isn’t an ideal position. I was put on IV fluids and IV Zofran when I arrived at the hospital. Even on the Zofran and laying still, I vomited about once every hour or so. I’d planned on an unmedicated birth, but I took the epidural when offered because I was so weak from vomiting. By the time I started pushing, I hadn’t digested any food for nearly 30 hours. The only meal I’d had, had come back up. The epidural let me sleep for a few hours, which gave me the energy to push. I vomited a few times on the epidural, including once after delivery.
Denise says
When I entered the hospital the doctor did a vaginal exam and probably intentionally or inadvertently ruptured my membranes. I immediately came up off of that table attempting to get to the bathroom and vomited. That was 11:30pm. I vomited with every single contraction, including the 1 hour of pushing, until she was born at 3:05 AM. My sister was the labor and delivery nurse who took care of me, and she grinned when I started vomiting, and said, “Yeah. I like that.” She was right. 3 hours and 35 minutes. She told my parents that I puked my baby out. Indeed.
Rose says
I vomited from early stage, no dialation but heavy vomiting and strong contractions . Thought I was dialated and further along so went to hospital and was admitted. Anti-nausea meds’ made me worse although after about 20 hrs in hospital and still no dialation, I was well for a wee while and got water and a banana down. IV fluids started to get me hydrated too. Around 24 hrs after admittance I was 1 cm. About 8 hrs later I was at 5 cm. I was sick throughout. The oral anti-sick meds made me very sick again otherwise I think it would have subsided during transition. I didn’t have any pain meds as I knew I couldn’t keep them down and was struggling with my breathing and pain as was new to being being a VBAC. They only gave me about 45 min to push and then baby was born in theatre with forceps assistance. Epidural took away pain & sickness immediately.
Tiffany says
Thank you for the tips! I’m almost 12 weeks pregnant with my 4th child and trying to be even more prepared this time around. My first 2, both boys, I vomited when the contractions got stronger, but as soon as I got the epidural with both, no more vomiting! With my second son I was so dehydrated coming into the hospital they hooked me up to iv fluids, and before the epidural with him, I vomited one last time and my water broke! With my 3rd, a girl, I didn’t vomit and breathed through the contractions alot easier, but only labored 5 hrs before I had to have a c section due to marginal cord insertion. I do wonder if there is a difference in having a boy or girl whether you vomit more? I know that every birth experience is different for every mom of course so this might have been a coincidence in my experiences.
Lindsey VanAlstyne says
I hope you have a better experience for your 4th!!
Angela says
Throwing up did NOT mean transition was anywhere near for me. After I first started throwing up I got to experience 23 hours of agonizing back labor as well before baby finally was born. I threw up so violently during one episode that I tore a muscle in my side.
Lindsey VanAlstyne says
Ugh, I’m so sorry. That sounds like an extremely challenging situation in an already challenging situation. Was there anything you found to be helpful, even if only slightly?