Heartburn In Early And Late Pregnancy - Causes, Medications, How To Get Rid Of?

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

Heartburn during pregnancy

Content:

• Description of the disease
• Causes of heartburn during pregnancy
• What to do, how to get rid of heartburn?
• Folk remedies for heartburn during pregnancy

Description of the disease

Heartburn during pregnancy is a burning sensation, bitterness in the throat and chest area, caused by physiological and hormonal changes in the body of a pregnant woman. Unpleasant signs of discomfort usually appear soon after eating. The duration of heartburn can vary from a few minutes to hours, and its attacks recur periodically.

Do you have heartburn during pregnancy? Yes, this is a very common phenomenon that, according to statistics, occurs in 80% of women who are expecting a baby. Signs can be observed throughout the entire period of pregnancy or occur in one of its trimesters, usually in the second half of the term. During this period, the manifestations of the disease are most severe and can even lead to sleep disturbance. The main symptoms of heartburn are:

• sour belching;
• burning sensation in the esophagus or behind the breastbone;
• bloating;
• forced coughing;
• nausea;
• strong salivation.

Causes of heartburn during pregnancy

The factors influencing the manifestation of signs of the disease are varied and are often determined by the trimester of gestation.

• One of the main reasons is associated with changes in hormonal levels that pregnancy causes. When a woman is carrying a fetus, her body intensively produces progesterone, a special hormone whose function is to relax the smooth muscles of the uterus for its free growth and prevent hypertonicity and spasms. But along the way, all the smooth muscles of the body reduce the level of tension, including the sphincter located between the stomach and the esophagus and preventing the return of food back or the penetration of gastric juice into the esophagus. This is what leads to the appearance of unpleasant sensations.
• Increased intra-abdominal pressure can prevent the sphincter from performing its functions properly, which also provokes symptoms of heartburn during pregnancy.
• High levels of hormones also affect the process of digestion itself, since it slows down muscle contractions that promote the movement of food eaten through the esophagus. As a result, the digestion and breakdown of food is stretched over time, causing heartburn and indigestion.
• As the uterus grows, the pressure on the stomach, diaphragm, and intestines increases, causing stomach acid to be thrown into the esophagus.
• Under the influence of hormones, the acidity of gastric juice increases, increasing the burning sensation.

The feeling of heartburn during the period of bearing a child is a standard phenomenon that does not harm the health of the fetus and mother, but if signs of the disease were present before conception, you should definitely contact a specialist, since such specific symptoms may indicate the presence of a serious gastrointestinal disease.

What to do, how to get rid of heartburn during pregnancy?

The peculiarities of the manifestation of the disease and the methods of dealing with them largely depend on the period at which the pregnant woman is.

The cause of heartburn in early pregnancy is the improper diet of the expectant mother: the inclusion of fatty, spicy, fried foods or the wrong food culture in the diet, snacks on the run. The burning sensation continues for a couple of minutes and soon passes. Although there are cases when the disease is accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

Observance of the following rules will help to avoid discomfort during this period:

• you can not eat immediately before bedtime;
• you need to try not to overeat, it is better to eat fractionally and chew food thoroughly;
• it is recommended to increase the consumption of milk and cultured milk products, lean meat, pureed vegetables;
• it is advisable to steam food;
• carbonated sweet and mineral drinks, coffee and cigarettes should be completely excluded;
• you need to drink enough fluids, but do it between meals, and not during them.

In the middle of pregnancy, heartburn occurs due to overeating. The uterus grows and increases pressure on nearby organs, thereby slowing down the process of digesting food, and most women continue to consume the usual amount of food or even increase it, overloading the stomach. This is the reason for the appearance of signs of the disease.

In this case, you can help by reducing the amount of food consumed at one time and changing the diet. Healthy and small meals can reduce the manifestations of malaise, sometimes there is a need to resort to medications to reduce symptoms, but this should be done in consultation with a doctor.

In late pregnancy, breech presentation of the fetus can provoke heartburn. The child is located with the buttocks down, and his head constantly presses on the diaphragm area, causing discomfort. The same effect is observed if the fetus is very large or the woman is expecting twins, triplets.

There are a number of additional rules to help avoid the onset of heartburn symptoms:

• During sleep, the upper body should be positioned higher than the lower one; for this, pillows are placed under the head and shoulders. This position reduces the outflow of acid into the esophagus.
• You need to eat slowly, in small portions and no later than 3 hours before bedtime.
• You can not go to rest after eating. If there is an urgent need, you should turn on your left side, bend your knees and put a pillow between them.
• It is worth giving up tight clothing, which can increase pressure on internal organs and provoke heartburn.
• Posture is important, stoop only increases the impact on internal organs.
• Chewing gum will help reduce the manifestations of the disease. It helps to increase salivation, thereby lowering the acidity level in the esophagus. But you need to use chewing gum after meals and only when urgently needed.
• Eating papaya can help prevent heartburn thanks to its digestive enzymes that soothe the stomach. The fruit can be used in any form: fresh, dried, canned, juice or tablet.
• From the diet, it is worth excluding foods that irritate the gastric mucosa and the production of hydrochloric acid: baked goods, fatty meat, fresh bread, hard-boiled eggs, sour berries and sour fruits, tomatoes, ice cream and spicy dishes.

In the last trimester of pregnancy, you will not be able to completely get rid of heartburn. You can reduce its manifestations with a strict diet and special medications.

It is permissible to take medicines for heartburn during pregnancy only with the permission of a doctor. Because even those that were effective before conception may now be useless or even harmful. To avoid negative consequences, antacids are prescribed - drugs that neutralize the acid of gastric juice, which do not violate the acid-base balance and are not absorbed, leveling the danger to the child. But they have an enveloping effect and good effectiveness against heartburn symptoms.

In some cases, drugs from another pharmacological group are prescribed, but such a decision can only be made by the attending physician for special indications.

Most often during pregnancy, the following antacids are prescribed to get rid of heartburn:

• Almagel. It is an agent that acts for a long time and regulates the acidity of hydrochloric acid. While the effect continues after taking the drug, carbon dioxide is not formed, therefore, the reappearance of hydrochloric acid is excluded.
• Maalox. A drug with an absorbent and enveloping effect that absorbs excess gases and acids and relieves pain in the upper areas of the digestive tract. Lasts for several hours.

Among the drugs with antacid and gastroprotective action, the following stand out:

• Rennie. Its active components are magnesium and calcium carbonate, they interact with hydrochloric acid in the stomach cavity and neutralize it. Formed water, water-soluble salts of magnesium and calcium, increases the formation of protective gastric mucus. But taking it too often is not worth it, the calcium that is part of it can provoke ossification of the fetal skull.
• Gaviscon. The active substances of these tablets, when they enter the stomach, interact with stomach acid and form a specific gel, which reduces the effect of acid exposure and relieves the burning sensation.

Among the drugs of other groups, it is worth highlighting ranitidine and lansoprazole, which are prescribed in cases where the previously listed drugs are ineffective. To get rid of heartburn, homeopathic remedies are also used, for example, Nuxvomics, Pulsatilla, Causticum, which relieve spasms, belching, bloating and a metallic taste in the mouth.

Folk remedies for heartburn during pregnancy

The use of medications when carrying a child is always associated with a certain risk, so many women prefer to fight heartburn with folk methods. There are many recipes and recommendations, their effectiveness is tested by personal experience, since each organism is individual.

Soda for heartburn during pregnancy is one of the popular methods, but not the most rational one, since the interaction of this substance with stomach acid causes the formation of carbon dioxide, which increases the production of gastric juice, thereby causing the reappearance of signs of the disease. In addition, carbon dioxide, when absorbed into the blood, leads to a violation of the acid-base balance of the pregnant woman.

Jelly and fresh potato juice obtained from peeled grated potatoes have a beneficial enveloping effect, which should be taken in small portions. They cope well with the manifestations of the disease at the beginning of the term.

It is recommended to drink milk for heartburn during pregnancy a little during the day, the effectiveness of this remedy will increase if you add a few drops of natural fennel essential oil to it.

Crushed eggshells from hard-boiled eggs can be a great remedy. It is taken three times a day for half a teaspoon for about 4 days. It helps with the symptoms of the disease in the last month before childbirth.

Other methods to help get rid of heartburn quickly

Heartburn seeds during pregnancy give a good result. They use raw pumpkin and sunflower seeds and chew them to prevent burning and other unpleasant symptoms.

To prevent heartburn, drink ginger or chamomile tea 2-3 cups a week after meals.

Heather and centaury infusions have proven themselves well. To make them is simple: pour 30 g of heather with half a liter of water and boil for 5 minutes, leave for several hours. The finished product is drunk in a tablespoon immediately before meals. For the second recipe, you will need 20 g of centaury, which is poured into 0.6 liters of water, boiled and insisted for 4 hours, filtered and taken in a tablespoon three times a day. It is a good remedy for discomfort in the throat with heartburn.

The coal powder mixed with water will relieve the burning sensation in the chest. It helps with mid-pregnancy heartburn.

Sometimes a glass of warm or cool water, "Borjomi" or alkaline mineral water helps to cope with unpleasant sensations, which has a good effect on digestion.

Some pregnant women benefit from oatmeal, nuts, and grated carrots. One should choose one of these foods and chew if symptoms of heartburn have already appeared.

Essential oils have a beneficial effect on the body through the activation of the immune system, some analgesic effect and a positive effect on the respiratory, circulatory and digestive systems. Therefore, if signs of heartburn appear at the beginning of pregnancy, you can mix a spoonful of grape seed oil, 5 drops of neroli, lemon or orange essential oil, and then rub the resulting mixture into the chest in a circular motion.

Heartburn is one of the conditions that accompany pregnancy, and, despite its unpleasant manifestations, does not harm a woman or a child. If you inform the doctor about it and follow simple rules, you will be able to cope with the manifestations of ailment quickly, efficiently and safely.

The author of the article: Gorshenina Elena Ivanovna | Gastroenterologist

Education: Diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" received at the Russian State Medical University named after N. I. Pirogova (2005). Postgraduate studies in the specialty "Gastroenterology" - educational and scientific medical center.