For all the overdue mums out there, you might feel like you have tried everything - walking, spicy food, or even having sex if you’re feeling brave, but had you considered salad?
The Caioti Pizza Café in Los Angeles has been serving its famous ‘maternity salad’ to patrons for 25 years, claiming that it helps women go into labour.
It is so successful, it has now become somewhat of a tradition for local women, and even has gynecologists send their patients to the restaurant, according to owner Carrie LaDou.
LaDou, who has been serving up the salad for nearly three decades to impatient mums, told Today: “Pregnant women come in every day – we have between five and 20 a day – they’re past due and they want to get the baby out.
“There are now kids that are literally in their twenties who come in and eat and tell us that their mum ate the salad.”
The salad is made up of watercress, romaine lettuce, walnuts and pasteurized Gorgonzola cheese. As well as the famous dressing, of which the ingredients are kept a secret.
LaDou says that some women who come into the cafe ask for modifications to be made to the salad, but she tells them: “If you’re here to have a baby, you need to have the salad as it’s meant to be.”
The restaurant also has a chalkboard on the wall that records all the ‘salad babies’ of the month, those who were delivered after mum ate the salad.
But this isn’t something that the owners set out to do, LaDou says it all started 28 years ago, explaining: “This isn’t something we set out to do — a lady came in 28 years ago who was past due and ate the salad, then felt contractions and went into labour. From there, the salad’s popularity just kept increasing.”