Heart palpitations in pregnancy

Carrying a child is a special and significant stage in the life of every woman. During this period, the rate of functioning of all systems of the woman's body increases. Therefore, cases when the heartbeat during pregnancy changes its rhythm are quite common.

If the number of beats per minute exceeds one hundred, then doctors talk about increased heart rate, that is, tachycardia.

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Causes of heart palpitations during pregnancy

The optimal pulse rate is individual for each person and is adjusted depending on their age, build (presence or absence of extra pounds), physical condition (health and attitude to sports - exercise), diet. But bearing a child is a special state of the body, so the causes of heart palpitations during pregnancy can be quite different, some of them, to date, have not received a physiological explanation.

Hormonal changes in the woman's body. During this period, the amount of hormone that affects the heart rate increases.

• Massive blood loss.
• Stress.
• Thyroid dysfunction.
• Pulmonary embolism is a sudden blockage of the pulmonary artery by an embolus.
• Depression and anxiety.
• Infectious diseases that cause high temperature.
• Bronchial asthma.
• Placental abruption.
• Manifestation of ectopic pregnancy.
• Sepsis is an inflammatory process caused by pathogenic bacteria or unicellular fungi entering the blood. People call this pathology "blood poisoning".
• A side effect of taking certain medications.
• The cause of tachycardia may be the intake of large amounts of vitamins and the body's response in the form of allergic reactions.
• Excess body weight of the expectant mother can also lead to tachycardia.
• Coffee.
• Smoking, both active and passive.
• Alcohol and drugs.
• Anemia.

As can be seen from the above, there are many risk factors that can cause palpitations during pregnancy and they are different. Although doctors say that an increased heart rate is normal during pregnancy, if tachycardia occurs, you should still count your pulse and notify the obstetrician-gynecologist who is monitoring your pregnancy about the results.

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Symptoms of Heart Palpitations During Pregnancy

Pregnancy is an additional burden on the entire female body, including her cardiovascular system. Most often, the symptoms of palpitations during pregnancy are expressed in a mild form of their manifestation, but they can also be symptoms of more serious diseases.

• The pregnant woman begins to feel pain in the chest area.
• The heart starts to beat so hard that it just “jumps out of the chest.”
• Signs of dizziness appear.
• A woman may experience loss of sensation in her limbs and numbness.
• My head starts to hurt.
• The woman feels tired quickly and has difficulty tolerating even minor loads.
• Shortness of breath appears.
• Short-term fainting spells are not uncommon.

If these symptoms appear, you should immediately notify your doctor. He will prescribe the necessary tests and, if necessary, provide adequate treatment.

Rapid heartbeat during pregnancy

Tachycardia is an increased number of heartbeats per minute, which occurs as a result of excessive physical, emotional stress or diseases occurring in the body. Rapid heartbeat during pregnancy, manifested in a mild form, is more the norm than a pathology, because during this period the heart must ensure sufficient blood flow to the uterus, supplying the entire body of the woman and the fetus with nutrients and microelements. If a woman feels that her “pump” begins to move more rhythmically, it is worth using fairly simple advice: •

• You need to sit down in a comfortable chair and relax, thinking about something pleasant.
• Light gymnastics for pregnant women, elements of yoga and meditation. Any representative of the fair sex can find her own relaxation, which will help relieve tension, bringing the heart rhythm in order.
• It is necessary to drink enough fluids to maintain normal water-salt balance in the body.

These simple tips will most likely allow the heartbeat to return to normal. If the increased rhythm is observed quite often and its symptoms do not go away after the proposed measures, it is necessary to urgently consult a specialist. To reduce the risk of tachycardia to a minimum, the expectant mother should avoid situations that can provoke a stressful or depressive state. Communicate only with pleasant people, spend more time in nature.

Fans of strong coffee and tea should remove these drinks from their diet during this period or at least reduce their consumption to a minimum. Do not forget about vitamins and microelements, which are especially necessary for the expectant mother and the human being developing inside her, but you should not allow their overdose. After all, such an excess can also cause rapid heartbeat during pregnancy. If there is a medical need to take medications, their consumption should be whistled to a minimum. The main thing is not to brush off this problem, you just need to be a little more attentive to your health, and in this situation, to the health of your baby.

Heart palpitations in early pregnancy

As a rule, the number of heartbeats at rest, which is considered normal, is 60 - 80. After conception, the body of the expectant mother begins to actively rebuild, adjusting to its new position. Therefore, the heartbeat in the early stages of gestation can reach 120 beats per minute or more. This situation occurs against the background of a sharp change in hormonal levels, acceleration of metabolic processes in the body of the expectant mother. During this period, the consumption of vitamins and minerals is activated, and if the woman's body does not receive enough of them (for example, magnesium), this can also provoke tachycardia. But such a deviation in the early stages of pregnancy is quite rare. Most often, the cause of such a manifestation is banal physical activity or stressful state of the expectant mother.

In such a case, it is enough to eliminate these irritating factors, and the problem is solved. If the heart rate increases, you can wash yourself with cold water and, having taken a comfortable body position, relax. The expectant mother should focus more on positive emotions, abstracting from the negative.

Here are some more simple tips:

• Eat often, but in small portions.
• If your heartbeat is very strong, it is better to eat standing up! At the same time, you should not lie down for 40-60 minutes.
• It is worth increasing the consumption of foods rich in potassium and magnesium (they are also called heart vitamins): dried apricots, bananas, raisins, seafood and others.

Strong heartbeat during pregnancy

The second trimester of pregnancy begins, the body weight of the expectant mother begins to increase, and the load on the cardiovascular system increases, which can result in tonometer readings of 100 - 115 beats per minute, because now it has to be responsible for two lives. Its rhythms can change dramatically, adjusting so that the fetus is comfortable in the womb. After all, by the second trimester, all the systems and organs in the body of the future person are already laid down, and he begins to develop further, learning to use them. During this period, the child especially needs a sufficient amount of oxygen and nutrients, which can cause a strong heartbeat during pregnancy. It is these factors that doctors explain the frequent complaints of pregnant women about stabbing pains in the heart area and a pounding heart. This condition of the patient in medical circles is called physiological tachycardia.

In this case, there is no reason to worry about your health or the health of the baby. Short-term strong heartbeat during pregnancy does not cause any harm to either the mother or the child. In most cases, this pathology goes away on its own after childbirth.

But it is still worth paying attention to this factor to your attending physician, especially in cases where the increased heart rate is accompanied by other symptoms (for example, vomiting and nausea). Such symptoms may indicate a more severe pathology: heart disease, early, but what is worse, late toxicosis.

Arising from one cause, the intensity of symptoms may vary. Doctors, today, distinguish two different forms of such manifestations:

• Sinus tachycardia, which is diagnosed if the number of rhythms deviates from the norm by no more than 15–20 beats per minute.
• Doctors consider paroxysmal tachycardia, which is indicated on the tonometer by numbers 160 - 200 beats per minute, to be more “uncomfortable”.

Increased heartbeat is an unpleasant phenomenon in itself, which can arise completely spontaneously and disappear just as unexpectedly. There is no need to panic in this situation - a consultation with a specialist will help to find out the reason for its occurrence and, if necessary, take effective measures.

Heart palpitations and shortness of breath during pregnancy

During pregnancy, changes affect not only the vascular system of the mother's body, the restructuring also concerns the woman's respiratory system, because now oxygen is required not only by the mother, but a significant part of it goes to the placenta, ensuring the normal formation and development of the future little person. Based on this, the efficiency of the expectant mother's breathing increases, she begins to breathe more often, which periodically leads to shortness of breath - lack of air. But this does not mean that the pregnant woman and her child are at risk of "oxygen starvation", it is just that the human lungs are limited by the chest, and cannot expand more when inhaling. Shortness of breath is the body's reaction to overload. In parallel with this, thanks to hormones, there is compensation for the chest space, the pregnant woman begins to breathe more often.

Therefore, palpitations and shortness of breath during pregnancy are a normal condition that does not contradict the woman's physiology. During the period of shortness of breath and increased heart rate, the expectant mother can be recommended to:

• Lie down, preferably in a comfortable place, and try to even out your breathing. Try to find a comfortable position for yourself.
• Try changing your body position; perhaps the growing fetus is putting too much pressure on your lungs, further reducing their volume.
• Try doing breathing exercises.

The main causes of shortness of breath include:

• The fetus grows, gaining weight. At the same time, its need for oxygen also increases.
• Due to the growth of the embryo, the volume of circulating blood also increases.
• The fetus grows, increases in size, it needs more and more space, therefore, it begins to crowd the internal organs of the mother, including the heart, lungs, diaphragm. That is, the need for oxygen increases, and the volume of the chest decreases, which leads to increased heart rate and difficulty breathing.
• If a woman does not eat well during pregnancy, she may develop anemia, which leads to palpitations and shortness of breath during pregnancy.

Therefore, during this period, slight shortness of breath (22–24 breaths per minute with the norm being 16–20 breaths) and increased heart rate (up to 100 beats per minute) are normal and do not justify panic.

These symptoms are aggravated by stressful situations and physical exertion. And accordingly, the longer the pregnancy, the more pronounced its manifestation.

Heartbeat diagnostics during pregnancy

A woman expecting the birth of her child is quite limited in diagnostic methods, because they must be absolutely harmless for the emerging and developing fetus. But in the case of rapid heartbeat, the most informative method can be called electrocardiography. Based on the ECG, a cardiologist can already make a fairly well-founded diagnosis. And if it sounds like sinus tachycardia, then you can only rejoice, because this type of rapid heartbeat does not require special treatment and is able to disappear on its own after obstetric assistance.

Diagnosis of heartbeat during pregnancy based on ECG data allows to clearly state the presence or absence of cardiovascular disease. Other symptoms can also serve as confirmation of sinus tachycardia:

• Increased heart rate is observed after eating.
• Tachycardia increases when the pregnant woman is in a lying position.
• The attacks become more frequent in a stuffy room.
• They can be provoked by emotional outbursts of mood.

Such causes of increased heart rate are called extracardiac, since they are not related to cardiovascular pathology.

In addition to the electrocardiogram, other methods can be used to diagnose heart palpitations during pregnancy, as prescribed by the attending physician:

• Ultrasound examination of the heart.
• Ultrasound examination of the thyroid gland.
• Blood test for hormones.

Doctors consider the combination of sinus tachycardia and heart disease in the woman's medical history to be the most dangerous, if the heart rate increases frequently enough and shows numbers above 120 beats per minute. This leads to rapid exhaustion of the heart myocardium, which is fraught with all sorts of complications, both with the health of the woman herself and her unborn child.

Treatment of heart palpitations during pregnancy

If a pregnant woman often feels her heart fluttering and this causes her significant discomfort, she should worry and inform her obstetrician-gynecologist about this at her next scheduled examination. Only a specialist has the right to establish a diagnosis and find out the cause of the pathology. And only on the basis of the obtained results of the study can he decide whether it is worth prescribing some treatment or whether this is the result of completely natural changes in the woman's body, which inevitably occur as soon as a new life is born in her womb.

In most cases, treatment of palpitations during pregnancy is not prescribed. To relieve symptoms, normal, adequate rest, a balanced diet, and taking a vitamin and mineral complex will be enough. Doctors say that this is a completely natural reaction of the body to its new position.

If a pregnant woman is too emotional and this is detrimental to her condition, she can try to practice meditation or master simple yoga exercises suitable for the expectant mother.

Systematic meditation and yoga in Eastern countries are considered one of the best techniques for preparing a woman and fetus for childbirth.

• To begin meditation, you first need to tune yourself in, detaching yourself from household chores and everyday problems.
• It is unacceptable to meditate with a full stomach, so the last meal before the session should be no later than an hour and a half.
• At the same time, the room where the lesson will take place should be well ventilated and quiet. Nothing should distract the woman from self-improvement.
• If necessary, you can light a soft, unobtrusive light or an aromatic candle. Turn on a smooth, calm melody, the sounds of the surf, or birds singing.
• Clothes should be soft, pleasant to the touch, loose, so that nothing is squeezed anywhere, and preferably made of natural fabrics. Remove all jewelry, hairpins, watches, contact lenses from the body, and let your hair down. Nothing should restrict the body or distract the mind.
• It is convenient to sit on a pouf or a sofa, the back should be straight, relax all the muscles. If the term of gestation is already long and it is difficult for the woman in labor to sit, you can also meditate lying on your side. To make the position more comfortable, you can use pillows.
• We begin the meditation with an inhale (eyes closed). Having relaxed, it is necessary to imagine the path of the air through the body. First, it enters the throat through the nose. Feel its taste, its aroma. Then it smoothly begins to fill the lungs, the chest expands, the air flows softly into the stomach and then begins the return journey. Imagine a bright, joyful balloon that first smoothly inflates and then deflates. During breathing exercises, try not to think about anything, fully concentrating on the process itself.
• During inhalation and exhalation, you need to count - this will allow you to abstract yourself from the situation around you faster. As soon as you feel like you are flying or in another dimension, you need to stop counting. Try to become one with this state.
• 20 – 30 minutes is enough to get stunning results.

During pregnancy, many asanas are prohibited due to the real threat to the pregnancy itself. But some exercises will not only not harm, but will give a noticeable positive result in the psychophysical state of the woman.

• We begin the exercises with the lotus position - you need to sit up straight, cross-legged. Try to relax as much as possible. Feel every cell of your body and the child's body. Do several breathing exercises. Then we move on to the exercises.
• Upavistha Konasana (wide angle sitting pose). The woman needs to sit on the mat with her legs wide apart. The back is straightened, the chest is raised, which gives the baby more space. In this position, take slow deep breaths and the same smooth exhalations.
• Janu Sirsasana (head near the knee). Remaining in the previous position, bend the right knee so that the foot of the right leg rests on the inner surface of the left thigh. The chest is straightened, the back is straight. Relax and spend a certain time in this pose (so that it is comfortable). Change the leg and do this asana again.
• Baddha Konasana (bound angle). Sit on a bolster and lean your back against the wall. The height of the bolster should be such that the knees of the expectant mother are below the level of the pelvic bones. For convenience, you can put pillows or a blanket under the hips. Relax, making sure that the back remains straight.
• Ardha Uttanasana (half forward bend standing). You need to stand up straight, put your feet shoulder-width apart, arms extended in front of you. Start to bend smoothly with a straight back until the back and legs are at 90 degrees. The arms are a direct continuation of the back. Breathing is smooth and balancing.
• Prasarita Padottanasana (wide-legged pose). Stand straight, spreading your lower limbs 1-1.2 meters apart. Feet parallel to each other and pressed firmly to the surface. Bend forward, leaning on some handy object. The back remains straight, and the muscles of the lower back and groin area are relaxed.
• Shavasana (rest). Lie down on the surface so that the expectant mother's back is on a mat or blanket, and her feet are on the floor. Place a bolster under her feet and a comfortable pillow under her head. Now you can relax. Five relaxing minutes are enough, and the pregnant woman feels a surge of strength and psychological peace.

If at rest the pulse rate shows a figure below 110 beats per minute, and after exertion or stress it rises no higher than 160 beats per minute, there is no need to worry - this is normal for such a state of the body.

If the cause of the pathological work is some disease of the internal organs or systems of the female body, treatment of palpitations during pregnancy is provided to specialists in the relevant disease together with an obstetrician-gynecologist.

Prevention

Regardless of whether there are heart problems or not, preventing palpitations during pregnancy will not hurt in any case.

• Eliminate smoking and alcohol from the diet of the woman in labor.
• Monitor your weight gain. Overeating and excess weight are bad in any form.
• You shouldn't overexert yourself physically, but it's not good to lie on the couch all the time either. Everything should be in moderation.
• It is worth mastering meditation techniques and simple but effective yoga exercises.
• You need to go to bed no later than ten o'clock in the evening.
• Rational balanced nutrition. Particular attention should be paid to cottage cheese, milk, hard cheese, citrus fruits, nuts, fish, grapes and bananas.
• Eliminate strong tea and coffee, carbonated drinks, and canned foods from your diet.
• Walks in nature are a must, both from the point of view of fresh air and from the point of view of relaxation.
• Swimming, daily exercises for pregnant women.
• Infusions and decoctions of herbs with sedative properties: lemon balm, lily of the valley, rose hips, thyme, chamomile, hawthorn, valerian, yarrow, mint, fennel.
• Avoid stressful situations.
• Adequate alternation of loads and rest.
• If possible, do not take any medications of chemical origin.
• Preventive intake of magnesium and calcium.
• Drink enough fluid to maintain the water-salt balance in the body of the expectant mother.
• Thoughts are material – the expectant mother needs to find sources of positive emotions for herself.

Forecast

In the early stages of pregnancy, tachycardia is observed quite rarely. It begins to gain momentum already during the second trimester. At the same time, in most cases, it is expressed by rare outbreaks of increased heart rate. Therefore, the prognosis for heart palpitations during pregnancy, in the overwhelming majority of cases, is positive. After all, a woman's condition can be significantly improved during pregnancy thanks to simple preventive measures. At the same time, after childbirth, this problem will resolve itself without leaving any consequences for the health of either the mother or the newborn.

Thus, dear future mothers, increased heartbeat during pregnancy is not a pathology, but a natural course of the process of bearing a baby. But you should not relax either. After all, no one knows your body as well as you know it yourself. At the slightest discomfort during pregnancy, you should notify your doctor about it, because now you are responsible not only for your health and life. Bring more positive emotions into your life and enjoy your special position. Health and favorable birth to you and your baby!

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