Pregnancy is a very special as well as a very tough stage of a woman’s life. It is an amalgam of discomfort, tiredness, and hormonal imbalance still it is beautiful in its own way. Delivering your healthy baby is the seat belt of this emotional rider coaster.
One such discomfort happening is heartburn during pregnancy. Heartburn is the sensation of burning in the chest which can leave a bitter or sour taste in your throat.
Heartburn during pregnancy is a very common symptom that is mainly caused because of hormonal imbalance and the repositioning of organs in your body. Your growing baby puts pressure on your body organs which causes heartburn during pregnancy, especially in the later stages.
But, there is nothing much to worry about. Because it can be treated easily and it doesn’t stay with you after delivering your child.
There are some common symptoms of having heartburn during pregnancy which we will discuss below. Keep on scrolling to know how you can manage heartburn successfully.
Symptoms
A woman’s body is going through so much during pregnancy that sometimes it’s hard to point out what particular thing we are feeling right now. To make sure its heartburn look for these symptoms:
- Feeling of pain or burning in the chest
- Feeling of bloating
- Burping more frequently than usual
- Feeling bitter in the throat
- Feeling like throwing up the food you eat
Now, you must have a clear idea of the symptoms of heartburn so that you can distinguish whether it is a normal throwing-up session of pregnancy or heartburn during pregnancy and you can treat it accordingly.
Causes
You want to know what causes heartburn during pregnancy. And how it’s not your fault that you are not taking enough care of yourself. It’s something very natural and more than half of the pregnant ladies go through it at one point or other. What causes heartburn during pregnancy is:
- Pregnancy causes a big toll on hormones. The disruption and imbalance in the hormones cause heartburn during pregnancy. It affects the muscles of the digestive tract and how it processes food.
- The growing baby and the uterus have to make their place in the woman’s body. As the baby’s size grows it causes the uterus to cover most of the space in the tummy and the crowd in the abdomen results in pushing stomach acids upwards.
- Although not so common but if you already have gallstones it can cause heartburn during pregnancy.
Now as you know the causes, is there anything you can do to prevent or avoid heartburn during pregnancy? Let’s have a look at that.
Prevention
There are some tried and tested tips that you can try to avoid heartburn during pregnancy or at least minimize its symptoms. Some of them are as follows:
- Take 5 to 6 short meals rather than munching on 3 big meals. It doesn’t keep your stomach empty for a long time and helps to prevent heartburn.
- Chew your food properly and eat it slowly.
- Try to opt for foods that are not very spicy. Also, avoid fried and junk food. Eat as many fruits and fresh vegetables as possible. Spicy and fried food can gear up the burning in the chest.
- Strictly quit tobacco and alcohol. Limit your intake of caffeine as well. Better replace it with fresh milk.
- Don’t go straight to bed after taking your food. Go for a light walk for at least 15 minutes.
- Try not to get constipated. Eat food rich in fiber to avoid constipation.
- When you sleep, keep your head a level up than your lower body part.
- Drink lots of water but try not to drink much water while you are eating.
These are some of the tips that you can follow to avoid heartburn during pregnancy but as we have said before it’s not just in your hands to avoid it. If it has to happen it will. You need to make peace with it and try to treat it effectively.
Treatment
Want to know a tip? Always remember that when you are pregnant always try home remedies first, if they fail then move on to medical treatment. Also, for medical treatments consult your gynecologist first.
To treat heartburn during pregnancy do follow these remedies:
- Drink fresh milk.
- Eat yogurt, it’s more effective if you add fruits to it.
- Add a teaspoon of honey to warm milk and drink it.
- Eat some almonds.
- Try eating papaya or pineapple.
- Drink coconut water or ginger water.
If these home remedies don’t help to relieve heartburn then the first thing you should do is to rush to your doctor. Your doctor will prescribe you medicine that will not cause any harm to you or your baby. Your doctor will recommend you:
- Over-the-counter antacids that help to balance and neutralize the acid in your stomach.
- Alginates that relieve indigestion and prevent acid reflux in the esophagus.
Conclusion
Summing up the whole discussion, we can say that heartburn during pregnancy is not fully avoidable but we can easily treat it at home using home remedies. Other than that medical help is always there to treat heartburn during pregnancy which means you don’t need to worry about it.
