`Maternal' Salad Praised -- `Overdue' Women Insist It Sets Off Contractions

LOS ANGELES - Expectant mothers say the romaine-and-watercress salad at the Caioti cafe really delivers. They're convinced the simple salad with a secret dressing induces labor - and a doctor says they could be right.

"It works! Three hours ago I ate the salad and now I'm having contractions. I'm on my way to the hospital," said Blanca Parker, 26, two days overdue as of a week ago Thursday.. Later that day, she gave birth to 6-pound, 14-ounce Erika Raylene.

The West Los Angeles woman is one of hundreds of expectant moms who have journeyed to the funky pasta joint and ordered the $5.25 salad.

"We have 50 to 60 pregnant women a day in here now," said Ed LaDou, owner of the 45-seat restaurant. "We know exactly why they are here. It's very exciting, really.

"Instead of the waiters looking at customers' faces, they are looking at their bellies. It is assumed they will order the labor-inducing salad."

Eighteen Caioti customers claim the salad caused contractions within five hours, said LaDou.

He believes it's his secret dressing recipe that contains the labor-inducing qualities.

"Everybody is trying to get me to divulge the dressing recipe, but all I'll say is it's probably the balsamic vinegar," he said.

That's a plausible explanation, said Dr. Raul Artal, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Southern California School of Medicine.

"It could make the uterus contract," Artal said. "But I think we have to separate science from anecdotes. There are a lot of myths. There are 4 million births a year in this country and there are 4 million anecdotes to go with those births."

Some balsamic vinegars are produced in wooden barrels and aged for years, and it is well recognized that a fungus that grows on grain can produce derivatives that cause the uterus to contract, Artal said.

But as for the powers of the Caioti salad, the gynecologist concludes: "There is very little scientific basis to it."

One of the early believers, Pam Pepper of Sherman Oaks, recently introduced her 8-month-old son, Blake, to LaDou.

Many other mothers also have returned with babes-in-arms to thank the owner.

"I think there's something to it," he said. "There's too much of a positive response to ignore it. People swear by it."