Dealing with pregnancy heartburn

Why am I experiencing heartburn during pregnancy?
There are a couple of reasons why heartburn is a particularly common experience during pregnancy. Firstly, the pregnancy hormone progesterone has a relaxing effect on muscles including the cardiac sphincter, the valve between the throat and the stomach. When this muscle is lax, acidic fluids from the stomach can escape more readily up into your throat, causing irritation.

As your pregnancy develops you'll be more likely to develop heartburn, particularly as your growing womb takes up more and more of your abdominal cavity, leaving less room for your stomach: You're quite likely to find that not do you feel full far more quickly, but also that the upwards pressure from the womb can easily push gastric juices up into the throat.

What can I do to avoid heartburn?
The first step towards lessening any heartburn you suffer during pregnancy is to adjust your eating habits to compensate for your smaller, restricted stomach and the weaker top stomach valve:

• Eat smaller meals - Avoid overloading your stomach by eating less at each sitting. You might find that switching to five or six smaller meals rather than three main meals works better for your digestion.

• Don't drink too much with your meals - Fluids take up stomach space and dilute your stomach acids, making them less effective, so try drinking less with your meals.

• But drink plenty of water - Do keep up a good water intake throughout the day, leaving half an hour each side of mealtimes, as this will help you with your overall digestion.

• Avoid acid-causing foods - Rich, heavy, spicy, fatty, creamy and sugary foods are all quite likely to cause heartburn. Obviously rich, fatty and sugary foods will be some of the worst culprits. Tomatoes (sauces) and onions (often raw) are a common cause of heartburn as are citrus fruit juices (and sometimes the fruits themselves) such as orange, lemon and grapefruit and very sour fruits (like cranberry) as well as some berries. Alcohol, caffeine and sugary fizzy drinks are also likely to aggravate symptoms, and you may find that decaff versions of tea and coffee aren't much better.

  Those are just some of the likely culprits, be aware of your own sensitivities by taking note of how what you eat affects you, and then avoid or cut back on those foods which give you problems.

• Aim for better pre-digestion - To lessen heartburn you want to digest your food better, and good digestion starts before food even reaches your mouth. This is because your body starts producing the appropriate stomach acids according to your senses of smell and taste. So try eating more simple meals, cutting your food up into smaller pieces and chewing longer and more slowly so you need less stomach acid to digest the food.

• Don't eat late at night - It's common sense that as you lie down juices can flow more easily from the stomach up to the throat, so it's wise to leave plenty of time to digest properly before you go to bed at night. If you need a late night snack to keep your energy up then opt for something that's very easily digested.

• Try probiotic yogurts / drinks - Probiotic products can help improve your digestion, and so lessen the pressure that can cause heartburn, by improving the balance of bacteria in the digestive tract. If you find dairy products are usually a heartburn trigger for you then look for a non-dairy source of probiotics, such as those in capsule or powder form.

There are other simple steps you can take to make heartburn less likely to strike in the first place:

• Avoid tight clothing - Tight clothing puts pressure on your stomach and digestive tract, so it's something to be avoided when you have acid indigestion. Make sure your maternity clothes have plenty of give in them. You may also find that making sure you have a correctly-fitting bra (your chest size will expand during pregnancy) can make a significant difference.

• Don't smoke - Yes, of course you shouldn't be smoking when pregnant anyway, but if you still are sneaking the odd cigarette then remember that smoking aggravates heartburn.

• Don't gain too much pregnancy weight - Of course you should be putting on weight during your pregnancy, but do try to make sure this is mainly related to your pregnancy rather than to your diet and over-eating. The more weight you carry, the more pressure you will put on your digestion.

• Try sugar-free gum after meals - Chewing sugar-free gum stimulates saliva production and helps neuralise the PH in your mouth and throat. This will also help lessen the likelihood of tooth decay (which can accelerate during pregnancy).

What can I do to manage heartburn when it does happen?
When preventative measures fail you, and you even your best dietary efforts may not be able to eradicate heartburn during pregnancy, then there are a few ways of easing the discomfort.

• Try a milky drink - Many people find that a milky drink eases the symptoms of heartburn by neutralising the stomach acids, and a warm, milky drink before bedtime is a pregnancy classic (and because it also helps you to sleep of course). This doesn't work for everyone, however.

• Keep your upper body raised - If you experience heartburn when you're lying down, such as at nighttime, then try to keep your upper body raised: You can use pillows to elevate yourself slightly for sleeptime, and this is another occasion when specially designed pregnancy pillows can be very useful.

• Try a digestive herbal tea - Many herbal teas can help with digestion, particularly ginger, fennel and peppermint. However, while some people find peppermint tea a godsend against heartburn, others find that it can aggravate it, so ditch it if it doesn't work for you.

• Try fizzy water - While sugary fizzy drinks are very likely to worsen heartburn, plain slightly fizzy water is one of those things that can work either way, and you may find it helps relieve the symptoms.

• Take an antacid - If you're suffering from an attack of heartburn then you can take an over-the-counter antacid (do double-check that it is safe to use in pregnancy, but plenty are). It's wisest to use this to provide occasional relief, rather than to rely on them as a complete solution.