What to do if you have acid reflux during early pregnancy

Pregnant women in the early stages of pregnancy often experience various discomforts in their stomachs, due to excessive gastric acid secretion, causing a series of symptoms such as acid reflux, heartburn, nausea and vomiting. So, why does acid reflux occur in early pregnancy? Most of the time, it is due to stomach acid problems caused by morning sickness or poor digestion caused by hormones. If the situation is not too serious, you can alleviate the discomfort by changing your eating habits. The editor will introduce it to you below.

Many women will experience some uncomfortable symptoms during pregnancy, such as acid reflux. So, how does acid reflux occur in early pregnancy?

1. Normal morning sickness

When a woman is pregnant for about one and a half months, the chorion in her body causes a significant increase in the secretion of gonadal hormones, which significantly reduces gastric acid and the activity of digestive enzymes. It not only affects the normal digestive function of the gastrointestinal tract of pregnant women, but also causes pregnancy reactions such as dizziness, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, limb fatigue, etc., also known as "morning sickness", which is a normal physiological phenomenon.

2. Indigestion

Another reason is that after pregnancy, due to hormonal changes, the sphincter relaxes, and the food we eat can easily come up (the sphincter is located at the junction of the esophagus and the stomach, and it makes the food we eat go down but not come up). It causes the acidic contents in the stomach to reflux into the esophagus, throat and mouth, irritating the mucous membrane.

3. Uterine compression

In late pregnancy, the growing uterus puts pressure on the stomach, and hormones relax the muscles that separate the esophagus and stomach, making it easier for stomach acid to surge up and cause a burning sensation in the chest.

Indigestion caused by pregnancy generally does not require drug treatment. It can be improved to varying degrees through reasonable diet adjustments. Pregnant women with excessive stomach acid can help relieve it through diet:

1. Milk is the most suitable food. It is better to eat rice porridge and wheat porridge at the same time, which can achieve the effect of reducing acid.

According to 2. Compendium of Materia Medica, black tea can stimulate appetite, strengthen the spleen and aid digestion, and has the effect of harmonizing and astringing excessive acid secretion. Green tea is very suitable for those with mild heartburn. But pregnant women should not drink too much black tea or green tea.

3. Carrots can also cure excessive stomach acid. They are alkaline food, juicy and sweet, and have a neutralizing effect. Choose carrots that are dark red, with the bottom and top being almost the same size, sweet and rich in juice. To sterilize before eating, wash it, rub salt on the surface and rinse it with cold water. After chewing one carefully, stomach acid will return to normal. If it is squeezed into juice, the therapeutic effect will not be obvious.