Expert advice Q&A
 Will a curry bring on labour?
 Although lots of people believe this, no, it is not true! The reasoning behind this belief goes like this. One of the first signs of natural labour is often a loose bowel motion, or even a short bout of diarrhoea. This happens because the cervix (neck of the womb) and part of the bowel have a common nerve supply. As the cervix starts to become more active, ready for labour, so the bowel is stimulated, causing faster movement of food and more frequent, looser bowel motions. Labour may follow in the next few hours - or a day or so later. Some people think that if you deliberately bring on an attack of diarrhoea - by eating an extra hot curry, for example - this will then stimulate the cervix and bring on labour. Unfortunately, things are not so straightforward. The process described above doesn't seem to work reliably in reverse. A really nasty attack of gut colic may possibly bring on labour - but only if labour is due to start naturally in a few days. Generally speaking, if labour does follow a hot curry, this is coincidence. Moreover, the side-effects of trying to bring on labour in this way can be very unpleasant. Imagine tummy cramps and uncontrollable diarrhoea as well as contractions! 15-20 years ago, all women in early labour were routinely given a large enema (dose of fluid into the back passage) to stimulate the bowel and make sure it was empty ready for labour. We now know that this is unkind and unnecessary. As described above, the bowel often naturally empties before or at the start of labour. There is really no need to help things along, unless you have severe and chronic constipation (in which case, it is best to ask your midwife for a suitable aperient, or a modern 'micro-enema'). Enjoy your food as normal in the last few weeks of pregnancy. If you're used to eating hot curries and you fancy a vindaloo, then indulge! If you don't like spicy food, don't worry - there is absolutely no point in forcing yourself to eat something you would not normally enjoy.
Answer provided by Hannah Hulme Hunter
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