Causes of calf cramps during pregnancy

Women's physical condition is relatively weak during pregnancy. At the same time, due to the changes in the physiological structure of pregnant women during this period, some special symptoms may occur. Some pregnant women will be anxious about these abnormal reactions, fearing that there is something abnormal with their physical condition that will affect the health and safety of the baby in their belly. For example, many pregnant women experience calf cramps when they are around eight months pregnant. What is the reason?

After pregnancy, especially in the second and third trimesters, the daily calcium requirement increases to 1200 mg. We cannot meet this requirement from our daily diet, and the calcium needed for fetal development all comes from the mother, so expectant mothers are prone to calcium deficiency at this time. When the body lacks calcium, the excitability of muscles increases and cramps are prone to occur. At this time, your leg muscles are under greater burden than other parts, so cramps are more likely to occur. The blood calcium level at night is lower than that during the day, so calf cramps may occur at night when pregnant women sleep.

Pregnant women who are calcium deficient can take calcium to supplement calcium. Pregnant mothers who are prone to cramps at night can do stretching exercises on the cramp-prone areas before going to bed. However, it should be pointed out that pregnant mothers must not use calf cramps as an indicator of the need for calcium supplementation, because individual tolerance to calcium deficiency varies, so some pregnant mothers do not have symptoms of calf cramps when they are calcium deficient.

Of course, when suffering from certain diseases, the probability of leg cramps increases, which is called secondary leg cramps, such as multiple muscle diseases, peripheral neuropathy, uremia, diabetes, thyroid disease, low magnesium, low calcium, low potassium, etc., which also require our attention.

Expectant mothers do not need to panic too much about the symptoms of calf cramps during the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy, because it is just a normal condition in the process of gestational age. For expectant mothers who often suffer from calf cramps, they can take calcium tablets to supplement calcium, but taking too many calcium tablets is not particularly beneficial to their health. It is recommended to consult a professional doctor.