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Acid Reflux

Morning Sickness and Acid Reflux: What’s the Connection?

Jun 8, 2018

Morning sickness is usually associated with pregnancy. Your body goes through a lot of hormonal changes while you are pregnant. One of symptoms pregnant women experience is heart burn. More often than not,  we just ignore the acid reflux that comes along with the morning sickness; we never make a connect. Maybe it’s just the heavy dinner from last evening or an uncomfortable night when sleep refused to come by. However there is a relation between the two and it is important to have the right kind of diet in order to make sure that your morning sickness and the acid reflux are under control.

What happens with Morning sickness

The change in the level of estrogen and progesterone in a woman’s body is believed to be the reason behind morning sickness.  It affects around 80 per cent of pregnant women. This symptom is considered quite normal and has no adverse health impact on the baby. The usual ways of getting over morning sickness are to eat at at regular intervals, make sure your food is rich in protein and vitamins but low on fat and have plenty of warm water to allow for easy digestion. Surprisingly, these are the same remedies used during an acid reflux!

Acid Reflux Heightened in Pregnancy

The burning sensation in your esophagus can be scary. It happens when the acid in your stomach, instead of staying in your stomach and digesting your food, sloshes back up into your oesophagus. In pregnant women, this happens because the hormone, progesterone, which is in abundant supply, slows down the digestive system. Coupled with that, your stomach (or more specifically, the lower esophageal sphincter), experiences  pressure of the baby inside of you, causing stomach acid to crawl back up. This leads to a burning sensation in your stomach and may even make you feel nauseous leading to morning sickness as well.

The similarity and the connection between acid reflux and morning sickness lies in the fact that they are triggered by the same hormone -progesterone – which is the dominant hormone in pregnancy.

If you could control acid reflux with the right kind of food, you could experience less of the morning sickness.

Treating Acid Reflux in Pregnancy Naturally

There are a lot of medications which help in keeping this under control but not all of them work. Antacids will always be available in the market but they might have side effects and could especially harm the unborn baby. It is advisable to stay off chemical meds when you are carrying a baby inside you. Stay natural as far as possible.

There are several super effective home remedies for treating acid reflux in pregnancy. You could try foods that are alkaline to neutralise the effect of the acid. A glass of low fat milk or a cup of low fat yoghurt could also help. Sip on some soothing ginger root or chamomile tea. Naturopaths often recommend cumin seeds which have incredible restorative properties.

Experiencing symptoms of morning sickness and acid reflux is quite normal so long as they don’t disrupt your health and daily life. However it is a good idea to see the doctor, if the symptoms persist or if you have trouble eating on a regular basis.