Gravity in the stomach during pregnancy

Gravity in the stomach during pregnancy is one of the many problems that women face in this state and are worried about their health and the influence of such factors on the development of the unborn child.

The birth and development of a new organism in the mother's womb introduces "adjustments" to the functioning of many systems and organs of the pregnant woman, and the peculiarity of these changes in the digestive system is the severity in the stomach during pregnancy.

Causes of severity in the stomach during pregnancy: mechanics

Considering the causes of severity in the stomach during pregnancy, we omit the cases when women before it had digestive problems: they know about their illnesses and they are very familiar with the feeling of heaviness in the epigastric region, so when they visited a women's consultation they had to inform their the doctor.

Let us dwell on some features of the digestive system during pregnancy, which is normal, and the pregnant woman did not have gastritis or any other gastric pathology.

Let's start with hormones, the development of which during the period of bearing the child undergoes significant changes. In the first place, the ovaries and the adrenal cortex synthesize much more progesterone, which, while performing the task of reducing the contractions of the muscular membrane of the uterus, simultaneously decreases the intensity of functional cuts in the esophagus, stomach, small intestine and large intestine. Progesterone is actively assisted by estrogens and hCG (chorionic gonadotropin).

So the symptoms of severity in the stomach during pregnancy are discomfort in the epigastrium, a feeling of fullness of the stomach, and, sometimes with a minimal amount of eaten - are the consequences of a decrease in the tonus of the muscular walls of the stomach (atony) and the disturbance of its peristalsis and general motility. Reducing the tone leads to the fact that the walls of the stomach loosely cover its contents, because of what it quickly appears in the lower part of the "digestive sac".

Peristalsis and gastric motility - stirring the diet and moving it further (into the duodenum) - in pregnant women, too, reduced, which causes heaviness in the stomach during pregnancy. This is due to a decrease in the production of enterohormone motilin, which regulates gastric motility. In addition, during pregnancy, the level of the hormone of the pancreas glucagon increases. On the one hand, it provides increased supply of blood to the skeletal muscles of pregnant women and contributes to the creation of energy reserves (in the form of liver glycogen). On the other hand, a high glucagon content in the blood of expectant mothers leads to an additional relaxation of the smooth muscles of the internal organs, including the stomach and intestines.

But if you think that all these are signs of ill health and you need to treat gravity in the stomach during pregnancy, then you are mistaken. It is through the reduction of contractile activity of the muscle fibers of the walls of the digestive tract that the digestive system of the pregnant woman more carefully processes food and extracts the maximum benefit from it.

And in addition to describing the gastric "mechanics" during pregnancy, it should be recalled that the size of the uterus from month to month grows, and the stomach at the same time changes its habitual position: from the horizontal to the almost vertical, moreover, it is pushed upward. And he continues to work! Therefore, the severity in the stomach during late pregnancy is almost normal.

[1], [2], [3]

Causes of severity in the stomach during pregnancy: chemistry

And now we turn to gastric chemistry, which causes the causes of gravity in the stomach during pregnancy.

A sufficient level of acidity of gastric juice is a necessary condition for the normally occurring process of digestion. Hydrochloric acid produced by the stomach's base glands in the gastric juice performs an extremely important function: only in its presence there is a synthesis of the proteolytic enzyme pepsin, which breaks down the proteins that enter the body with food.

So in pregnant women in gastric juice, the content of hydrochloric acid is low, with which gastroenterologists and connect the symptoms of severity in the stomach during pregnancy. From the very beginning of pregnancy until the seventh month, the production of gastric cerebrointestinal hormone gastrin is significantly reduced, under the influence of which there is secretion of hydrochloric acid and, accordingly, pepsin.

But production in the small intestine of the secretion secretion in pregnant women is markedly increased, and this also reduces the level of hydrochloric acid, since the main function of secretin is to block the production of this important component of gastric juice. Substantially restricts the synthesis of hydrochloric acid and close to the secretin neuropeptide hormone VIP (vasoactive intestinal peptide), the level of which also increases during pregnancy.

[4], [5], [6]

Diagnosis of gravity in the stomach during pregnancy

Most gastroenterologists and obstetricians-gynecologists have a single point of view on the severity in the stomach during pregnancy: this is a physiologically determined specificity of the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, which is characteristic for the given state, and it should be taken adequately.

Perhaps the diagnosis of severity in the stomach during pregnancy in some cases can be carried out. Although the question arises - how? In pregnancy, neither fractional gastric sounding, nor intragastric (intragastric) pH-metry with "swallowing of the tube" can be performed. To see what happens in the stomach of a pregnant woman, after appointing a gastroscopy, it will not be possible either: the gastroscopy can enter the stomach cavity only by its introduction through the esophagus. Contraindicated and radiologic examination of the stomach during pregnancy.

There remains one more method of diagnosis - determination of the tone and intensity of gastric motility with the help of electrogastrography, that is, by recording its biopotentials with apparatus sensors that are mounted on the abdominal wall above the stomach. It is obvious that in this way the diagnosis of gravity in the stomach during pregnancy is not feasible.

[7], [8]

Treatment of severity in the stomach during pregnancy

Is it necessary to treat gravity in the stomach during pregnancy, if it is a physiologically conditioned temporary feature of the digestive system? The correct answer, obviously, you already know ...

Moreover, what can be the treatment of gravity in the stomach during pregnancy with pills. Generally, drugs for solving the problems of reduced gastric acidity and sluggish digestion are, for example, all known Pancreatin (Pangrol, Festal). But during pregnancy, as noted in the official instruction, he "can be appointed by the doctor in cases where the expected therapeutic effect for the mother exceeds the possible risk to the fetus." The drug Panzinorm is prescribed with a lack of digestive enzymes, however, there are no data regarding the safety of its use during pregnancy.

No clinical studies have been conducted that would confirm the safety for pregnant Enzyme preparation Creon (Pancitrat). So with the pills, too, everything is clear.

Some are hoping for treatment of severity in the stomach during pregnancy by alternative methods. In most cases, in the course are medicinal herbs, or rather their broths and infusions, intended for ingestion. With gravity in the stomach helps infusion of oregano: one tablespoon of dry herbs pour a glass of boiling water, a quarter of an hour to insist under the lid; take to meals three times a day - on a tablespoon. But pregnant women can not take this infusion in any case! Oreganum has such a chemical composition that it has a stimulating effect not only on the motility of the gastrointestinal tract, but also on the uterine myometrium, strengthening its contractions. Than it threatens, all women know.

Preventing gravity in the stomach during pregnancy

It is easy to guess that the ability to prevent the occurrence of gravity in the stomach in pregnant women - given the etiology of this syndrome - simply does not. But there are simple rules, with observance of which unpleasant sensations in the stomach can be minimized.

So, the prevention of gravity in the stomach during pregnancy is:

• energy balanced diet (2000-2500 kcal) and exclusion of heavy food (fatty, roast, smoked, confectionery and semi-finished products);
• use of fermented milk products instead of whole milk;
• mandatory use of first courses (soups, borscht, etc.);
• refusal of too hot or too cold food;
• fractional nutrition (at least six times a day, but in small portions);
• cessation of any meal before bed (at least two hours);
• absence of rest after eating in the form of "lying on the sofa for half an hour": during short walks, food digestion is easier, and the stomach is much less overloaded.

But the prognosis of severity in the stomach during pregnancy is the most positive. As soon as your baby is born, the heaviness in the stomach during pregnancy will remain ... Only in the memories of this important period in the life of every woman.