Heartburn During Pregnancy: Causes and Treatment Options

Indigestion, along with heartburn and acid reflux, is common in pregnant women. Up to 80% of pregnant women experience this. It’s also known by its technical term GERD, or gastroesophageal reflux disease.

As if it isn’t hard enough that you are dealing with all those bodily changes, you also have to deal with heartburn and other related issues.

That’s why doctors recommend dietary changes to pregnant women experiencing GERD, since you need to be wary about taking medication while pregnant. Keep reading to find out more about pregnancy-related GERD and how you can avoid or treat it.

Why Does Pregnancy Increase GERD Likelihood?

GERD is when the acid present in your stomach (used for digestion) washes back up toward the tube that connects your throat and stomach. This can cause a sense of burning (heartburn) in your chest due to irritation of the lining of the esophagus.

Even though GERD isn’t life-threatening or dangerous in itself, long-term GERD can lead to issues.

GERD is quite common in pregnant women because the growing baby presses against your stomach, pushing the stomach acid into your esophageal tube. This is why GERD is more common during the third trimester, which is when the baby and the uterus grow fast.

Also, pregnancy hormones make the valve at the entrance to the stomach relax so that it doesn’t close as it should. This means more of the acid washes back up towards the esophageal tube, causing heartburn.

Finally, due to hormone changes, the food you eat moves much slower through your digestive system, which can cause bloating and heartburn.

Some symptoms to watch out for are:

• Burping
• Feeling burning or pain in the chest
• Feeling bloated or full
• Feeling sick or bringing up food

As you can imagine, this isn’t pleasant and can be quite frustrating, with all the other changes you are experiencing when pregnant. If you're wondering will throwing up help heartburn, it's essential to understand the potential effects of such actions on your digestive system during pregnancy.

Does GERD Affect the Baby?

Most pregnant women worry that GERD might end up harming the baby in their bellies. You need to start preventive measures and treatment as soon as you realize you are dealing with GERD during pregnancy. This will ensure your baby won’t have to deal with the symptoms and neither will you.

Dietary Changes to Avoid GERD

The first thing all medical professionals recommend is that you need to change your diet when dealing with GERD. Start taking the following measures when eating during pregnancy and it should improve the GERD symptoms drastically:

• Don’t eat 3 large meals, but break them down into 6 smaller meals instead
• Stop eating spicy, fried, greasy, fatty foods as much
• Eat slowly and mindfully
• Don’t drink with your meals, but in between them instead
• Limit the use of caffeinated beverages and foods
• Avoid smoking and drinking alcohol during your pregnancy
• Sit up straight while eating meals
• Avoid eating late at night
• Wait 30 minutes before lying down after eating
• Keep the head of your bed higher or put pillows under your shoulders

When you first experience GERD, try drinking some yogurt or milk to get instant relief from it. Or stir honey into warm milk and drink that.

Physical Activity While Pregnant

Another way you can help alleviate some of the symptoms of GERD while pregnant is by using physical activity. But you need to be careful when using this treatment option.

The problem with physical activity is that if it’s too intense, it can exacerbate GERD symptoms. Also, any kind of activity that increases blood flow to your gastrointestinal area is also not helpful. Eating before the workout is also not recommended.

Low-intensity exercise, though, can help reduce your GERD symptoms. But you will need to try it out for yourself to see how your body reacts. Don’t overdo it with the intensity, and stop immediately if you feel like your heartburn is getting worse.

Treatment Options to Consider for GERD During Pregnancy

Even though during pregnancy you have to be quite careful with what kind of medications you take, there are some treatment options to consider.

Be careful before consuming over-the-counter antacid medication like Tums® or Maalox® since they may contain high sodium levels, which can cause you to retain water, and they also might contain aluminum, which isn’t safe to consume during pregnancy.

An all-natural heartburn medication like GerdLi is quite suitable for pregnant women since all the ingredients are natural, vegan, and third-party tested. It also has no artificial flavors or synthetic fillers.

The active ingredient in GerdLi is D-Limonene, found in the rinds of citrus fruits like oranges, grapefruits, and limes. It also helps maintain your gut health, which over time can help alleviate GERD symptoms as well.

GerdLi works well with a step-up approach, where you have already taken measures such as the ones mentioned above. You have started watching what you eat and how you intake your meals.

Also, you have transformed your physical activity levels and cut down on any offenders that exacerbate GERD, like caffeine, spicy foods, and fatty foods.

After that, you can start taking GerdLi as an anti-reflux supplement before moving on to any prescription medication. If all these natural measures work perfectly for you, you don’t ever need to get on prescription medication, which would be ideal.

Most women stop experiencing GERD once they give birth, so you only have to pay attention to all these measures for a few months before you are free again.

You Can Have a Heartburn-Free Pregnancy

There’s no need to fret. If you take the measures outlined above, you too can have a pregnancy free of heartburn or GERD symptoms.

Looking to learn more about or purchase GerdLi, the acid reflux supplements? Check out our online store here.