04/25/2026
Repost! What are your thoughts?? Someone in your antenatal group is going to tell you to eat pineapple. Here’s what you need to know….
A study published just last week looked at 2,400 pregnant women and found that those who regularly ate pineapple in their third trimester had better cervical ripening scores, shorter labours, and higher rates of spontaneous vaginal birth.
This was a study where women self-reported what they ate and researchers looked back at their outcomes, so it’s not the strongest piece of research. But there are other studies that support similar findings….
A randomised controlled trial gave women at 40–41 weeks 250g of pineapple every 24 hours for three consecutive days. The women who ate pineapple had significantly better bishop scores than the no-pineapple group and they needed less oxytocin to get labour going. Oxytocin was used in 16.7% of the pineapple group versus 56.7% in the no-pineapple group.
So is pineapple a guaranteed way to ripen your cervix? No. Is it worth snacking on it in your final few weeks of pregnancy…. Yes!! 🍍 Arguably tastier than dates, am I right?
