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Coping with symptoms in pregnancy

Te pārai i ngā āhuatanga maha i te hapūtanga

Common symptoms during pregnancy include nausea and vomiting, constipation, feeling full soon after eating and heartburn. Eat as well as you can and try the suggestions below.

Talk to your LMC or general practice team before you take any medications or supplements for your symptoms, or if your symptoms are severe.

Nausea and vomiting

You can reduce nausea and vomiting during pregnancy by:

Constipation

Constipation can happen when you are pregnant due to hormonal changes that affect the muscles of your bowel. It can also happen because your growing pēpi (baby) can press against your bowel.

Eating plenty of fibre-rich foods and drinking at least 9 cups of fluid a day can help relieve constipation.

Try to have plenty of fibre-rich foods at all meals. Fibre-rich foods include:

If you are already eating plenty of fibre-rich foods and drinking plenty of fluids, adding more will probably not help. In this case, you could try having one of the following for a few days to see if it helps:

Being active can also help keep your bowels regular. Try to include some activity such as walking, swimming, playing with your children or housework every day.

Feeling full soon after eating

Feeling full soon after eating (called early satiety) is common in pregnancy, especially if you are carrying twins or triplets. It can happen as your pēpi grows and pushes on your stomach, making it smaller. Early satiety can make it difficult for you to gain weight and get all the nutrients you and your pēpi need to stay healthy.

There are several tips for early satiety.

Heartburn

Heartburn is caused by the acidic stomach contents moving back up the oesophagus. This is due to pregnancy hormones relaxing the muscles that control the opening into your stomach. As your pēpi grows, more pressure is put on your stomach, which increases the risk of heartburn.

To manage heartburn, you could try:

Avoid foods and drinks that trigger heartburn. Some foods and drinks can make heartburn worse in some people. These include:

Written by Nutrition and Dietetics, Christchurch Women's Hospital. Adapted by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed November 2024.

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Review key: HIPRC-41255