Our results are all the more important as the habit of drinking large quantities of water has become quite common in the general population.10 Also, a more liberal attitude to fluid administration during labour might have developed. The comparison of fluid volumes administered during labour as reported in scientific papers indicates that such could be the case. In a study published in 1991, evaluating saline or glucose as vehicle for oxytocin, one study group received a mean of 710 ± 640 ml of intravenous glucose.2 A more recent work, published in 2005, studied the effect of unrestricted oral carbohydrate intake.32 The intervention group received 3234 ± 1473 ml of intravenous fluids.