Symptoms related to heartburn can be detected in different ways, such as a sensation of pain and burning just below the breastbone, indigestion, and a sour after-taste in the oral cavity. Heartburn is one of the symptoms afflicting pregnant women the most frequently. From different data, between 6 and 9 out of every 10 pregnant women will experience symptoms of heartburn at least once during pregnancy.

When the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) ceases to work properly, acids and gastric contents can get back into the esophagus. Infrequent heartburn may not be of great concern, but increased frequency can indicate a deeper, chronic condition called acid reflux or gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD). It is the unwanted transmission of bile, digestive enzymes and acids that then generates heartburn. These substances transfuse back from the stomach to attack lining cells inside the esophagus. The LES should normally act as a valve to keep the gastric contents in the stomach, without them escaping backwards in a healthy body.

Many causes contribute to acid reflux. They include:

1. Over eating of acid forming foods (for example; eggs, liver and wine) will compound the problem. Other problematical foods are those that provoke Candida overgrowth, allergies or difficulties in digestion. Prime examples are meat and dairy products.

2. Poor sleep hygiene can wreck your immune system. When this happens, many related problems can occur, including overgrowth of Candida, a non-reactive digestive system and a build-up of toxins. These are all contributing factors to acid reflux.

3. Being overweight also puts pressure on the LES, forcing through more stomach contents into the esophagus.

As an additional difficulty during pregnancy, the uterus that enlarges can also put pressure on the abdomen that then acts on the stomach and the LES to force yet more stomach contents back towards the esophagus. During pregnancy, women may also have to battle with additional problems such as constipation, indigestion and bloating. In all, pregnancy in fact becomes a factor that can lead to GERD. Hormones that the body fabricates during pregnancy have a laxative effect on a number of muscle tissues that include the LES. Acid reflux is also intensified by a digestive process that loses its dynamism.

Pregnancy and GERD simultaneously makes a solution hard to find, as many medicaments are potentially risky for women who are pregnant. The drugs that do feature on physicians' lists for pregnant women can themselves have certain unwanted secondary effects and in general it is difficult to recommend any of them in this case.

The natural approach avoids these issues and puts in place a solution to halt heartburn both now and in the future in a safe and effective manner. Did anyone tell you that pregnant women can get alleviation today from heartburn and cure a basic cause of acid reflux by selecting a holistic solution to repair the internal imbalance that was responsible all the time for GERD symptoms?