Morning sickness and Heartburn during pregnancy and remedies

Pregnancy is the most blissful time in a womans’ life, but since the body is undergoing transformation every single minute, a lot of niggles and hichups can make your time aweful too. Today we discuss the various pains and complains related to pregnancy and the best way to deal with them. However do note, that if you have complains that you think are beyond normal and makes you increasingly uncomfortable, please do not forget to approach your doctor or midwife.

  Morning sickness nausea and heartburn

Morning Sickness

Unfortunately nearly 85 % of the women  have to deal with morning sickness in their first trimester. Hence in all our Hindi soaps and movies, pregnancy is always associated with the woman running to the toilet !!

A particular smell, or even the sight of a particular food, can trigger morning sickness too. This usually starts in the morning hence the term but can occur at anytime during the day.

For a small number of pregnant women morning sickness also continues in their second trimester.

There really isnt a concrete reason as to why morning sickness occurs but there are related theories.

Reasons

1.Low sugar levels

During early pregnancy, your body’s metabolism increases by 20% . And your body’s demand for energy is more than ever before. This can lead to low sugar levels if you are not eating well.

2. Pregnancy hormone Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin’ (or ‘HCG’)

In your first trimester the body releases HCG  soon after her baby implants into the lining of  the uterus. Increased level of HCG can lead to morning sickness. For eg when there is conception of twins, the level of HCG is higher and hence women with twins may undergo severe morning sickness

3. Increase sensitivity to smell and taste.

Its noticed that during pregnancy, women tend to have an increased sensitivity to smell and taste, which can make you feel irritable and you would want to “throw up”

4.Stress and anxiety

Early pregnancy can be very stressful. Your changing body, jitters of whats next, thoughts of arrival of the new baby, your career, your job, your family, your changed lifestyle everything can add up to the stress and axiety. While stress may not be a reason for morning sickness  it can worsen it.

Morning sickness remedies

1. Dont starve! I know it can be difficult to eat with the morning sickness  but starving will always make it worse due to lower sugar levels.

2. Half fill a glass with warm water and add one teaspoon each of lime juice, ginger juice, honey and mint juice. This concoction should be drunk a couple a day for about four days, at which time the nausea is meant to have subsided.

3. Curry Leaves seem to help with morning sickness. Take 20-25 leaves and crush to extract some juice. Add honey and two teaspoons of lime juice and sip a couple times a day.

4. Stay happy. Stress will only make it worse!

5.Limit the amount of caffeine you have in a day , it can only trigger morning sickness

When to seek doctors help

Severe morning sickness is called Hyperemesis Gravidarum. If left unattended it can be life threatening.

How do you know if you have Hyperemesis Gravidarum

1. Persistant vomiting 3-4 times a day

2.Palpitation

3. Dehydration

4.Decreased urination

 Heartburn

Heartburn is the burning feeling or discomfort in the chest and throat, felt usually after eating. Around 66% of pregnant women experience heartburn in their last trimester, however it can happen anytime during pregnancy.

Reasons for heartburn

The progesterone levels trigger heartburn, which relaxes the spinchter muscle at the opening of the stomach.

Another common reason is again tension and stress

Remedies

1.A mixture of yoghurt, kefir, warm milk and cinnamon

2.fresh papaya, papaya tablets

3.A glass of milk before going to bed may help

 Its best to avoid antacids in the initial 12 weeks of pregnancy when the baby’s organs are forming

 

Pregnancy is taxing as much as its blissful,and giving birth is rebirth of a woman.  Its difficult to tackle with the ever changing body, but at the same time its very important you stay happy- thats the best gift you could give to the life inside you!

You may also like: