Throughout pregnancy, many hormones in your body are changing—increasing, decreasing and affecting different body systems in a number of ways.
How Progesterone Affects Acid Reflux
One of these hormones, progesterone, relaxes muscles and not just the muscles in your pelvis and your uterus. Progesterone also relaxes the lower esophageal sphincter, which is the gate between the stomach and the esophagus. The esophagus is a muscular tube that moves food down to your stomach. With this sphincter more relaxed than normal, plus your growing uterus and baby putting extra pressure on your gastrointestinal (GI) tract, it’s common to experience acid reflux in pregnancy.
Acid reflux, also just called reflux, is when acids, foods and/or liquids from the stomach move their way back up through the esophagus and throat and into your mouth. The number of women who experience reflux increases with each trimester—it’s estimated to affect between 25–75% of pregnant women.
Symptoms of Acid Reflux
The most common symptoms of reflux are
- A burning sensation in the chest or back of the throat (commonly called heartburn)
- Burping
- Nausea
- Bloating
- Regurgitation (when pieces of food or liquid move from your stomach back into your throat or mouth)
Most often, symptoms occur shortly after eating, but some people have symptoms even between meals. The good news is that there are ways you can prevent and manage reflux symptoms. While you can’t change the hormone levels in your body or adjust baby’s position off of your GI tract, you can try lifestyle and diet changes as well as medications to help with reflux.
Steps to Reduce or Prevent Acid Reflux
- Avoid eating to the point that you feel full. Overeating can lead to feelings of bloating, stomach discomfort and reflux symptoms.
- Eat smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day instead of 3 large meals. This can also help with nausea symptoms related to pregnancy.
- Skip spicy foods, such as hot and spicy chips, buffalo chicken wings, jambalaya and kimchi (spicy cabbage).
- Hold off on eating fatty foods, like cheeseburgers, mac and cheese, pork belly or loaded nachos—these foods can irritate your GI tract.
- Limit caffeine. In general, don’t drink more than 1.5 cups of coffee, 2 cups of tea or one energy drink per day while pregnant. Caffeine further relaxes your lower esophageal sphincter, which may lead to more heartburn.
- Don’t smoke or drink alcohol. No amount of tobacco, marijuana or alcohol is considered safe in pregnancy. Not only are these substances dangerous to your and your baby’s health, but they can also cause severe heartburn.
- Sleep on your left side. This positioning can help limit the amount of acid and food that makes its way back to the esophagus.
- Eat earlier in the evening to avoid meals right before bedtime. Laying down directly after eating allows gravity to push acid from your stomach back into your esophagus. Try taking a walk after meals or sitting upright for at least 2–3 hours after eating.
- Try an over-the-counter medication such as an antacid tablet, which reduces the amount of acid in your stomach.
Please note that you should always discuss any and all medications with your clinician before starting on them. Over-the-counter medications that help with reflux are generally considered low-risk medications in pregnancy, but everybody is different.
Follow-Up with Your Care Provider
Since you’re visiting your clinician regularly throughout your pregnancy, discussing any Since you’re visiting with your pregnancy care provider regularly, discuss any reflux symptoms during these appointments. However, if you experience any of the symptoms below, call your provider’s office as soon as possible. These symptoms may be a sign of a more serious issue:
- Trouble swallowing
- Hoarse voice
- Weight loss
- Stomach pain
- A cough that won’t go away or goes away for a while but keeps coming back
The changes in your body throughout pregnancy are awe-inspiring. That being said, some changes can be uncomfortable and affect your quality of life. Heartburn shouldn’t get in the way of enjoying your pregnancy glow. Use some of the tips above to extinguish the fire of heartburn!
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