It is important to note that indigestion, acid reflux, and heartburn are part and parcel of pregnancy. These symptoms will most likely worsen your pregnancy sickness in early pregnancy.
Hormonal progesterone is the cause of heartburn and indigestion during late pregnancy—this is because the valve atop your stomach is relaxed. As a result, some stomach acid and digested food move upward and into the esophagus.
There are some factors that contribute to the worsening of your heartburn. These could be: macrosomia (if your baby is very big), you are pregnant with more than one baby, or your baby is in breech position. Where the latter is the case, the baby’s head may push up against your diaphragm, causing heartburn (breech position is when your baby’s bottom faces downward.
If you haven’t experienced early heartburn pregnancy, you may be wondering how to prevent it. Let us look at some ways you could do this:
- Rather than having many hours in between large meals, eat smaller meals frequently. This ensures your stomach will not become too full and prevent it from pushing up against your diaphragm.
- There are teas that can aid in digestion, such as peppermint. There are others, however, that say they help digestion (e.g. fennel), but they contain chemicals that may cause your uterus contract.
- Your day’s main meal should be lunch. Your dinner should be eaten early in the evening. This way, your body can digest the food properly before bedtime.
- Foods with polyunsaturated fatty acids (sardines, soybeans, nuts, etc.) can trigger heartburn.
- Stay away from rich, fatty and spicy foods (and all other foods you know cause you heartburn). Heartburn could also be worsened by coffee, tea, and sugar.
- Sit upright after meals. If you lay down, you may regurgitate the food you ate.
- Do not drink any liquids with your food. Doing this will dilute your digestive fluids, compromising their effectiveness. It is best to drink water in between meals.
If you smoke, your chances of developing heartburn are increased. You should stop smoking in any case, as this could harm your baby.
Let us assume you have already developed heartburn and want to ease it. Let us now take a look at five home remedies for heartburn during pregnancy.
1. Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy refers to the use of natural oils that have been extracted from plants to improve a person’s physical or psychological health.
You can do this by adding a few drops of lemon to some grapeseed base oil and massaging it onto your upper back and chest. You may also put this concoction in a bath so as to inhale the vapors.
Aromatherapy is beneficial in some ways, including improved brain function, improved mood, improved lymphatic and blood circulation (through massage).
2. Herbs
There are certain herbs that can act as relief for heartburn, including Angelica, Caraway, Clown’s Mustard Plant, German chamomile, Greater celandine, Lemon Balm, Licorice and Milk thistle.
Unless you are diabetic or on high blood pressure medication, chamomile, ginger or dandelion tea can help relieve your heartburn. If you do suffer from high blood pressure or diabetes, proceed with caution regarding dandelion tea in particular.
The benefits of using herbs as medicine are numerous. First of all, some herbs are easier to come across and hence cost less than prescription medication. Another benefit is that herbs may have fewer side effects, which is good if you are pregnant. Herbs can also be good for treating some conditions.
3. Acupressure
Acupressure is a treatment that uses the fingers to find pressure points on your body much like acupuncture. This works only if you know where the acupuncture point on your wrist is. If you want to locate this point, use the following steps:
Use three fingers to measure the distance between your hand and arm, starting from the crease.
Lift your third finger slightly until it is just barely touching the skin. Lightly feel around this point for any slight dip. Now push as hard as you can into this deep. Push until you feel a bruise developing.
If you have severe heartburn, push this point (on each wrist) about 30 times at intervals of about one second.
Acupressure is beneficial because it is a good way to relieve tension pain in just about any part of your body. A person suffering from heartburn can take note of the benefits of acupressure.
4. Gum
Research suggest that chewing gum right after a meal can help prevent (or relieve) heartburn. The best gum to chew would be the sugar-free kind. Do it for about a half hour after a meal and you may experience some relief from your heartburn. This is because when you chew gum, your salivary flow rate is stimulated. This in turn clears away any accumulated acid in your stomach.
The benefits of gum are simple: it’s cheap and easy to come across. It doesn’t take any special skill or studying; simply unwrap a piece and chew.
5. Complementary therapy
By undertaking complementary or relaxation therapies that realign your posture, you are going about treating your heartburn in the right way. Complementary therapies include the Alexander technique, chiropractic, and osteopathy. Relaxation therapies include tai chi, gi gong, and yoga. The best complementary therapy for backache accompanied by heartburn would be chiropractic. This is best for both these elements and will go a long way in relieving the intensity of the symptoms.
Complementary and relaxation therapies are good ways to relieve pain and ease tension. They are simple to do once you learn how. If you choose to do them from the comfort of your home, you will not spend any money. Therapy can also help treating other ailments like nausea, fatigue, high blood pressure, etc.
References:
1) https://www.consumerhealthdigest.com/tag/heartburn/
2) https://www.glozine.com/tag/pregnancy
Author Bio:
Stevan McGrath loves to explore the world through traveling and thrilling getaways that adventure lovers may dream of exploring. His writing domain revolves around topics like health and fitness, wearable technologies, product Solvaderm skincare Brand product reviews etc. He is a contributing writer to various other websites since 2011. His articles are well-researched and published on several websites. You can follow him on Twitter and Google+ for daily inspiration.
