Often times a part of being pregnant is having to deal with pregnancy heartburn.

This does not occur in all women, but it is quite common. If this is the first time that you have ever had heartburn, you may not even realize what it is until your doctor, friends, or family tell you.

Having heartburn can be quite uncomfortable and feels like a burning sensation in your chest, the bottom of your throat, or just above your stomach. Recognizing or knowing the symptoms of pregnancy heartburn can be beneficial in trying to stop it before it gets too bad.

Pregnancy heartburn is quite common due to progesterone hormones that are made by the placenta.

This particular hormone is made to relax the muscles of the uterus. This hormone will also relax the valve that closes off the stomach from the esophagus. When this valve is relaxed, it will allow acids, that are supposed to stay in your stomach, to creep up into the esophagus, causing heartburn.

There are things you can do to try and prevent getting pregnancy heartburn.

The first thing is to try and avoid certain food and drinks that are more likely to give you heartburn. Some of these include carbonated drinks such as pop, chocolate, citrus fruits, and foods that are spicy, fatty, or fried. Monitoring the types of food that you are eating before you get heartburn will also help to narrow down what to avoid.

Eating smaller portions during a meal and eating them more often, rather than eating a large meal can also help reduce heartburn. When your stomach is full, there is less room and it could begin to push acid through the already relaxed valve. This is also true with the amount of water that you drink with a meal. It is good for you to drink 8-10 glasses of water a day, especially when you are pregnant, but it is better to drink this throughout the day rather than in large quantities at one time.

Chewing gum or sucking on a sour piece of candy after a meal can also help to reduce the amount of acid that can rise up. A sour piece of candy may not be your idea of an after dinner desert, but it helps to produce excess saliva which is a natural defense against stomach acid. The same is true with chewing gum. It produces the excess saliva that will help fight against acid.

You also want to avoid eating too close to bedtime. This will give your system time to begin digesting the food, rather than eating and then laying down. If you are commonly getting heartburn at night, you should prop yourself up with pillows so you are laying at an angle rather than laying flat. This will help in keeping the acid down.

Pregnancy heartburn can be a pain, in more ways than one, but recognizing the symptoms and reducing the potential causes will make it a little easier to handle.

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