Dealing with common pregnancy discomforts
Here are tips to help keep pregnancy maladies at bay.
Heartburn
This occurs due to the progesterone relaxing the muscle in the valve at the entrance to the stomach.
As a result, small amounts of the food in the stomach mixed with hydrochloric acid make their way up the oesophagus irritating it, thus causing heartburn.
Remedy
- Eat smaller meals so that your stomach can handle the slow process of digestion effectively.
- Avoid greasy or spicy food.
Restlessness or lack of sleep
Trouble with sleep may be due to bodily aches. It may also be due to the inability to find the most comfortable sleeping position or because of anxiety as your delivery date approaches.
Remedy
- Take a warm beverage such as milk before going to bed.
- A warm bath will soothe your body and get you sleepy.
- Sleep at odd hours and not necessarily in the night so as to catch up with your rest.
- Ensure you are in a quiet, dark room, so that you are not woken up by lights or noises.
- Due to an increased body temperature when you are expectant, you may not need as many covers as you did before pregnancy.
Just use the amount of covering you need and less nightwear.
Leg cramps
The cause of this is unknown. However, it is believed to be caused by deficiency in calcium or salt.
Remedy
- Massage the leg cramp. Try to walk around so that the cramped muscle can loosen.
- Take food rich in calcium and your calcium tablets as advised by a doctor.
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