Mild ginger and mint tea' with some sodium bicarb' should do the trick'

Blessings

Nobuoni +

If herbal remedies don't help, I used small doses of Folic Acid. Hope that helps...

This problem usually has two causes: hormonal changes that cause softening of muscles and connective tissue (supposedly this gets the body ready for labour, but it also causes the sphincter that prevents reflux to relax) and slowing of gastric processes, combined with mechanical pressure from the uterus in the abdominal cavity.

There's not much to be done about the first cause; not without messing with the normal course of pregnancy and potentially causing more problems than you solve, at least. Fortunately, as your friend has only experienced this while pregnant, she can reasonably predict it will resolve quickly after her baby's born. And the best approach to deal with the second cause is to give the mechanics as little to work with as possible. Your friend's probably heard all this before, but it bears repeating.

No tight or restrictive clothing anywhere on the torso - bra bands might need to be well-fitted for comfort, but make sure thay're not *tight*.
Pay attention to posture. Keep the torso lengthened - stand tall; sit tall. Don't allow slumping - rather, allow a slightly increased back arch, which usually occurs naturally anyway.
When tired (and pregnancy *does* get tiring!), plan to recline... maintain the lengthened torso, and keep the chest higher than the stomach.
Sleep also at a slight (or greater if necessary) recline. Prop the head of the bed up, or use a wedge cushion. If night-time or early morning heartburn is the worst problem, consider sleeping in a chair.
If lying on the side, lay on the left side rather than the right.
Eat multiple small meals rather than fewer large ones.
Avoid stimulant and acid foods - coffee, tea, cola drinks; citrus fruits, alcohol; fatty foods; spicy foods... if you bring the base-line down so the heartburn's not constant, it'll be easy to figure out any other specific foods that ought to be avoided. Avoid smoking, as well!

After all the preventatives, antacid treatment is ok, though it's usually better to avoid sodium-based antacids because many pregnant women will also be experiencing increased blood pressure and sodium worsens that. Traditional bi-carb is ok for occasional use, but if you're needing relief on a daily basis it could be better to use an OTC anatacid with a magnesium base. And there are other levels of relief available from pharmaceuticals, too...

And back on topic for this tribe (sorry for the digressive essay, but I *remember* the heartburn of pregnancy, and misery is not a fitting state for a pregnant woman *s*), what I found excellent was ginger. I love ginger anyway, but when I was pregnant I'd keep crystalised ginger and ginger candies on hand all the time. Ate them before a meal when I was feeling nauseated, and after a meal when I had heartburn.

How about fennel tea?