Heartburn during pregnancy is a fairly disabling symptom that persists almost throughout pregnancy. In vast majority of expecting moms its symptoms appear for the first time during pregnancy and may add to the anxiety and agony associated with other pregnancy symptoms.
Heartburn is a burning sensation in the chest that’s most commonly felt after lying on full stomach or after taking spicy, fatty meals. It represents the rising of stomach acids into your esophagus; when acid in your stomach flows into the esophagus instead of being digested. Heartburn symptoms appear during pregnancy as a result of physiological and hormonal changes usually associated with pregnancy.
In pregnancy, serum levels of progesterone and estrogen are very high thus relaxing smooth muscles in the body - an action that eventually affects all smooth muscles of the body.
Heartburn primarily occurs during pregnancy because food moves more slowly through the intestines and pressure is exerted on the stomach by the enlarging uterus thus possibly pushing stomach acid into the esophagus.
Before pregnancy, the communication between esophagus and stomach (referred as gastro-esophageal sphincter) is tightly closed, normally preventing any reflux of food content or gastric acid from stomach to esophagus.
However, due to pregnancy hormones, digestion process tends to slow down and so, the digestive acids remain in your stomach for long period than usual. As a result, the potency of sphincter is compromised, giving rise to acid reflux -upward movement of stomach acids. As the pregnancy advances, the reflux increases because of the pressure of expanding uterus on other abdominal organs and further affects the functioning of gastro-esophageal sphincter.
If heartburn isn’t properly controlled by dietary management and lifestyle adjustments, nutritional status can be greatly affected and frequent bouts of pain attack that can compromise your health will result. The good news is that heartburn can be avoided by changing our lifestyle and including healthy food items in your diet. You’ll find the following tips very helpful in this regard:
Although you can take any over-the-counter medication such as antacids for heartburn relief, it’s suggested you take advice from your healthcare provider before taking them. The reason is simple; finding effective solution to heartburn during pregnancy depends on diagnosing the exact cause of it case by case and only your doctor is in the best position to walk you through such process and will prescribe the appropriate remedy based on the specific identified causes.
Moreover, most calcium containing heartburn remedies have been proved to be associated with constipation and may worsen bowel movements (that are already slow under the influence of pregnancy hormones). A lot of heartburn remedies have anti-inflammatory agents. Sodium bicarbonate medication, for instance, contains high amounts of sodium that increase your water retention. Therefore, such medications are unsuitable for use during pregnancy.
Apart from over-the-counter remedies or prescribed medications, avoiding acid-triggering agents is also helpful in overcoming heartburn during pregnancy.