Coping With Heartburn During Pregnancy: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments, and Complications

Sour is supposed to make you funny. But if you’re sore during pregnancy, you might as well stop laughing. Heartburn during pregnancy is unpleasant, but harmless. Medication is usually not necessary, with a few home remedies you can relieve the symptoms.

Many pregnant women are familiar with this: the esophagus burns, you feel uncomfortable or you have a sour taste in your mouth, namely that of stomach acid. Perhaps you feel the same way. Heartburn during pregnancy is a nuisance for many women, especially in the last trimester. Especially at night, it keeps some pregnant women from sleeping – in addition to the sleep disturbances that many women have to deal with in the last three months of pregnancy anyway.

causes in pregnancy

On the one hand, the hormones are to blame for the unpleasant burning sensation in the esophagus. The hormone  progesterone  is the reason why the sphincter muscle between the esophagus and stomach gives way more easily than usual and gastric acid can therefore rise more easily. In addition, the baby presses against the stomach from below, which in turn presses against the sphincter. This explains why the symptoms mainly appear in the last trimester of pregnancy when the baby is quite large.

These tips will help prevent heartburn during pregnancy

To prevent heartburn, make sure you eat several small meals throughout the day. After a large meal, the pressure in the stomach is greater and the risk of heartburn is higher.

Since your stomach, like your other organs, is literally pushed to the side by the large uterus in late pregnancy and therefore feels smaller, this will certainly not be difficult for you. Many pregnant women report that at the end of the pregnancy they only have space for small meals anyway.

Easily digestible foods are better for your stomach. A low-fat diet reduces the risk of heartburn and is healthier. You should also chew your food carefully. You can also support the digestive work if you drink a few sips of warm water before eating. One or two sips are enough, after all you don’t want your stomach to expand too much. Apart from this water, you should therefore not drink much at mealtimes. Shift your fluid intake to the times between meals.

Your stomach has an acidic reaction to some foods. This includes sweets, coffee , tea, citrus fruits and fruit juices. Spicy foods can also increase heartburn. On the other hand, high-protein products such as quark or yoghurt have a neutralizing effect on stomach acid.

Since heartburn can get worse, especially when lying down, it is advisable to sleep slightly higher. An extra pillow under your head can help prevent stomach acid from flowing in the wrong direction. To prevent night attacks, you should also not lie down immediately after eating. Wait about an hour before going to sleep.

Alternative home remedies for heartburn

If you search the vastness of the Internet, you will find not only the more classic home remedies for heartburn mentioned, but also more unusual tips against the unpleasant acid.

What works well for one woman does not necessarily have to work for another. We have put together a few home remedies for you. Maybe it will help you or give you a suggestion what to try.

Chewing a raw carrot or half a boiled potato slowly neutralizes stomach acid. Potato juice can be an alternative. A few hazelnuts or almonds that are chewed in the mouth for a long time also help some women against the burning sensation of rising stomach acid.

A spoonful of mustard after a meal should also have a positive effect. Some women swear by fennel tea after a meal. Still others get the problem under control with milk. Always make sure to drink in small sips and not too quickly, otherwise you may achieve the opposite.

Eating rice cakes or oatmeal is perceived by some women as pleasant and neutralizing. A tablespoon of condensed milk is also said to help pregnant women.

You probably won’t get rid of heartburn completely by the end of your pregnancy, but console yourself: it will stop immediately after pregnancy. And heartburn during pregnancy is also completely harmless, in most cases no medication is necessary – in contrast to heartburn in the non-pregnant state, which can become chronic and then possibly damage the esophagus.