3. Dates May Promote Natural Labor
Dates have been studied to see if they can help start or speed up labour in late-term pregnant women.
Eating these fruits during your last few weeks of pregnancy may help your cervix open up and reduce the need for induction of labour. They may also help cut down on work time.
In one study, 69 women who ate 6 dates every day for 4 weeks before their due date were 20% more likely to go into labour independently and had much shorter labours than women who didn’t eat dates.
In another study of 154 pregnant women, those who ate dates were much less likely to have their labours sped up than those who didn’t.
In a third study, 91 pregnant women who ate 70–76 grams of dates every day starting in their 37th week of pregnancy had the same results. On average, they were in labour for 4 hours less than women who didn’t eat dates.