Beware Of Tums In Pregnancy

Here’s something your provider probably isn’t telling you and that many pregnant women don’t even know about! Tums are an extremely common and frequently-used method of relieving heartburn. The problem is that, similar to a lot of medications, it suppresses symptoms, rather than actually treating the problem. There is also some debate on the effects of Tums and whether or not they should be deemed safe to take in pregnancy.

Why You Should Watch Your Tums Intake

Some providers say that nothing is wrong as long as you stick to the recommended dosage, but even following this dosage can end up being a problem with you taking in too much calcium. In pregnancy, women are encouraged to get between 1,000-1,300mg of calcium each day and should not surpass 2,500mg of calcium per day. Most of the calcium we take in is through the foods that we eat, such as salmon, cheese, and yogurt. If you find that you are not getting enough calcium in your diet, you may want to consider a calcium supplement. You may think that your calcium supplement is higher in calcium than Tums; you’d probably be wrong. I went to my medicine cabinet and reviewed the ingredients on both bottles and here’s what I found. Just comparing mine, my calcium supplements provide 600mg of calcium per serving, whereas my Tums provide 750mg of calcium per serving. The recommended dosage on my Tums for pregnant women is no more than 6 within 24 hours and for no more than two weeks of continuous use. Do you see how easy it would be to take in too much calcium just by popping a handful of Tums each week?

The Problems With Consuming Too Much Calcium

Not only is too much calcium damaging to your body as it may cause kidney stones and prevent your body from properly absorbing iron and zinc, but it can also affect your baby. Your placenta is responsible for feeding your baby, meaning that the health of the placenta is extremely important. Usually starting around the 37th week of your pregnancy, your placenta will naturally start to calcify. This is common and usually just a sign of normal aging. However, it is an issue when the placenta begins calcifying prematurely. The more calcified the placenta, the harder it is for the baby to receive oxygen and nutrients. Calcium deposits may also cause parts of the placenta to die or be replaced with fibrous tissue and increase the risk of blood clots.

Placenta calcification can be detected and monitored through ultrasounds early on, but it is best to avoid this potential complication by simply watching your calcium intake. I have seen several placentas with higher levels of calcification because moms didn’t actually think it would make such a visible difference. It really does. Taking an antacid every once in a while to provide relief is totally fine, but do not let popping a tablet be your constant go-to for alleviating your heartburn. If you want to know some natural ways to improve your heartburn in pregnancy through diet and lifestyle changes, I wrote a blog post all about natural methods of preventing and treating heartburn in pregnancy. To read that blog post and learn how to take control over your heartburn, click here.