Читать книгу Ultimate, Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting Guide - Lilian Paramor - Страница 22

Niggles that originate in the digestive system are some of the most common complaints of pregnancy. Some women escape them entirely, while others experience their discomfort throughout pregnancy. Fortunately, there are many self-help tips to ease the four main digestive discomforts discussed here.

1.Bloating and cramps

More about it:

•This common early pregnancy symptom often accompanies nausea, constipation, food aversions and strange taste sensations.

•Sometimes pregnancy supplements cause bloating, cramps and wind.

Self-help tips:

✓Reduce or avoid processed, refined grain products like cereals, pastries, pizzas and bread, which are some of the main culprits, and be cautious with dairy products too.

✓Stop taking your pregnancy supplement for a few days and should it turn out to be the cause, change brands or increase food sources of the extra nutrients you need.

See your midwife or doctor:

If symptoms don’t improve with these self-help tips.

2.Pregnancy nausea

More about it:

•Despite often being referred to as “morning sickness”, pregnancy nausea may strike at any time of day. It mostly begins after six weeks of pregnancy and usually improves by about 12–14 weeks, very occasionally lasting longer or only starting later in pregnancy.

•Deficiency of vitamin B6 is associated with pregnancy nausea, while pregnancy supplements may cause nausea in some women.

•Mostly blamed on changing hormones, pregnancy nausea is in fact more common in anxious women and perfectionists.

•Pregnancy nausea is believed by many to help protect one from ingesting harmful substances during the first trimester.

•Poor eating habits prior to and during pregnancy may affect the degree of nausea experienced.

Self-help tips:

✓Take a homeopathic pregnancy nausea remedy.

✓Supplement your intake of vitamin B6.

✓Sip ginger tea when nauseous.

✓Eat smaller meals more frequently and eat a little before rising in the morning. Don’t allow yourself to become hungry.

✓Stop pregnancy supplements for a few days to check if this is the cause; change brands if necessary.

✓Regular tongue-scraping or brushing often helps prevent nausea – you can buy a tongue scraper from most pharmacies and dentists.

✓Make one meal a day fruit only – ideally breakfast.

See your midwife or doctor:

•Excessive nausea and vomiting, called hyperemesis gravidarum, must be treated to avoid dehydration, but you can try the self-help tips too.

•Nausea starting later in pregnancy must be assessed to check for a link to other conditions like blood pressure abnormalities, hypoglycaemia or anaemia.

3.Constipation

More about it:

•The relaxing effect of progesterone on the bowel muscle wall may weaken peristalsis (the muscular contraction that ensures regular bowel movements) and affect your ability to pass a regular stool.

•Constipation is often triggered by pregnancy supplements.

•Some women who have had constipation prior to pregnancy due to a spastic colon, find constipation improves while expecting a baby, due to the relaxing effect of progesterone.

Self-help tips:

✓Eat at least five pieces of fresh, seasonal fruit a day.

✓Drink 1,5 litres of water each day.

✓Sip a cup of hot water first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

✓Prioritise sufficient time to go to the toilet when nature calls, as suppressing the urge leads to drying of the stools – early morning is the prime time for this.

✓Eat your main meal at midday as often as possible and avoid eating for about three hours before sleep for easier digestion.

✓Walk briskly for 20–30 minutes most days, or take part in some form of exercise you enjoy.

✓Being in water stimulates the bowel – swimming or relaxing in a bath may help to get your bowels moving.

✓Take a homeopathic remedy for constipation and bloating or take the tissue salts Calc fluor and Ferrum phos to help improve elasticity and strength of the bowel wall muscle.

✓Take an omega 3-rich oil supplement, like linseed or flax oil.

✓Do this excellent reflexology move: Massage the midpoint of the underside of your left heel with your knuckle for two to three minutes a few times each day.

See your midwife or doctor:

•If these self-help tips do not relieve the problem.

•Do not use laxatives in pregnancy, as many are contra-indicated. They may also lead to dehydration and irritate your womb into contractions.

4.Heartburn and indigestion

More about it:

•The valve between the stomach and the oesophagus is relaxed due to increased progesterone in pregnancy, making it even easier for this reflux of stomach contents.

•This is quite common in the third trimester as your baby grows and presses up against the stomach, pushing the acidic contents through to the oesophagus and burning the membrane lining.

Self-help tips:

✓Eat smaller meals more regularly, rather than big meals.

✓Do not eat for three hours before sleep as heartburn is worse when lying down before food has moved out of the stomach.

✓Reduce your consumption of spicy, fatty and rich foods considerably.

✓Take a homeopathic remedy for heartburn or the tissue salt Nat phos.

✓Sip a cup of hot water to which you have added a few drops of peppermint essence.

✓Chew a fresh mint leaf or a small piece of liquorice.

✓If necessary, raise the head of your bed a little or sleep on a continental pillow or two.

✓Do the heartburn stretch:

Sit on your haunches, knees splayed wide, about 30cm from a wall. Keep your toes together and your heels opened away from each other.

Keep your buttocks firmly down on your feet and place your hands against the wall, palms down.

“Walk” your hands up the wall, keeping buttocks and shoulder blades as low as possible, until you feel stretching between your shoulder blades and less pressure from Baby on the diaphragm area.

See your midwife or doctor:

•If these tips do not help sufficiently.

•Only take antacids as prescribed by your practitioner or pharmacist, as you already tend to greater alkalinity in pregnancy.