Dealing with Heartburn during Pregnancy

Persistent heartburn can be very painful and even if it is not fatal, you can end up in the emergency room if you are slow to act as soon as the symptoms appear. Heartburn is a common annoyance. However, there are many times soon after a great meal that you don’t really feel that great anymore and it has nothing to do with the host but just that you may be experiencing severe heartburn and indigestion The problem is that the esophagus is so inconveniently close to the sphincter that opens and closes to allow food into the stomach.

There are many problems a woman has to go through when pregnant. She might get high blood pressure, edema, nausea and vomiting, weakness, and excessive heartburn. For each of these problems there are remedies; however the doctor usually advises to keep medicines to the minimum lest it will affect the baby in one way or other. The mothers-to-be also prefer to endure the ordeals as much as possible, rather then risk harming the baby.

Can Heartburn During Pregnancy Be Controlled?

During pregnancy, a great deal of changes takes place in the body due to release of extra hormones triggered. These hormones cause the LES (lower esophagus sphincter) to get loose and as a result of that, it can swing the other way, allowing acid and undigested food rush back into the alimentary canal.

The question remains whether it is possible to check and/or control the heartburn during pregnancy without creating any type of risk to the baby. It seems that the answer is ‘yes’. Some of the remedies are simple precautions that you can apply without much effort:

IIdentify the foods that aggravate heartburn during pregnancy and totally eliminate those foods from your diet during the pregnancy period. Usually citrus fruits, chocolate and aerated drinks are among the foods which create the most harm.

Avoid all beverages/ drinks that may contain caffeine. These include coffee, tea (with and without milk) as these have been observed to cause heartburn during pregnancy.
Let at least two hours pass between your meal and retiring for bed. Sleeping on stomach full slows down the digestion system, and hence increases the acidity of the stomach which in turn results in heartburn during pregnancy.
Eat small meals, at small intervals of time. Do not try to eat large meals as these will result in heartburn and even vomiting.
Do away with alcohol for the same reasons as above. Alcohol too allows the LES to swing inwards thus resulting in acute heartburn.

The above are only five simple remedies that will allow you freedom from heartburn. Other remedies would be yoga, prescription medicines form your doctor and an exclusively fat free diet (if possible). It remains to see how much of these remedies are feasible for you and how many work to your satisfaction. The only way to find out is to try them out one by one and see for yourself.

Food is an essential part of our lives, without which we cannot survive and which brings us together, for example, at Christmas time everyone gathers and enjoys a specific meal. Accompanying symptoms can seem like the least of your worries. Heartburn is usually caused by excess acid in the stomach.