Pregnancy is a truly beautiful journey. It’s a time filled with a lot of changes, both in your life and physically. As your body adjusts and changes to grow your little one, you may experience some less-than-pleasant symptoms, like bloating. That uncomfortable feeling of fullness and tightness in your belly is not an uncommon complaint by mothers-to-be.
It can be both frustrating and uncomfortable to experience bloating and gas during pregnancy. However, the good news is that there are adjustments and strategies you can try to possibly prevent bloating or at least ease discomfort. Today, we are going to review some tips and tricks to help curb bloating during pregnancy.
This way, you can feel more comfortable and enjoy this beautiful phase of your life with your growing baby!
How To Avoid Bloating In Pregnancy: Tips and Tricks
While gas and bloating during pregnancy are common (especially as an early pregnancy symptom), the good news is that there are plenty of strategies to help you both manage and possibly prevent it. But first, let’s explore the question, “Why does bloating happen during pregnancy?”
Changes in hormone levels, especially the increase in progesterone, can relax the muscles in your digestive tract. This can lead to much slower digestion and build-up of gas. The end result? Bloating, burping, and flatulence (gas).
Additionally, as pregnancy progresses, your growing uterus will increase the pressure on your abdominal cavity, slowing digestion. This can worsen the feeling of fullness, constipation, gas, and bloating. There are also food and nutrition factors that can contribute to bloating. For example, iron supplements, large meals, and food sensitivities. Nutrition and lifestyle factors can also help, like drinking enough glasses of water per day, adjusting your diet to incorporate small frequent meals, limiting or avoiding fried foods, and adding some exercise and movement into your routine.
What Does Bloating Feel Like In Pregnancy?
Bloating during early pregnancy can feel slightly different than during mid-to-late pregnancy. However, either way, most of the time, it feels like an uncomfortable and persistent feeling of tightness that spreads across your stomach.
You may experience a distended and overly full feeling. The bloating is often accompanied by gas and possibly burping. Additionally, you may find it hard to find a comfortable position. For some people, it gets worse as the day goes on.
Overall, you will likely have discomfort and tightness in your belly. However, bloating will feel and look different to everybody. It also ranges in severity from mild to more intense depending on the person and will be impacted by factors like activity level, hydration, and nutrition!
What Causes Bloating In Pregnancy:
- Pregnancy Hormones: Increased progesterone occurs during pregnancy, which can relax your muscles, leading to slower digestion and more gas.
- Constipation: Hormonal changes and pressure from a growing fetus can have a huge impact on bowel movements, slowing them and causing constipation.
- Trigger Foods: Certain foods that didn’t affect you before may affect you during pregnancy, causing increased gas and bloating.
- Underlying GI Conditions: Conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Crohn’s disease, and Celiac disease can create bloating and other digestive symptoms during and outside pregnancy.
- Dehydration: Dehydration or lack of fluids can cause constipation, leading to bloating. Make sure you drink plenty of water and fluids regularly!
- Increased Fluid Retention: Pregnancy can lead to fluid retention and swelling in the body, increasing the chances of feeling bloated.
- Dietary Changes: Increased appetite, certain cravings, and other dietary changes may lead to gas and bloating.
- Swallowing Air: When you swallow air while eating, drinking, or even chewing gum, you increase your chances of bloating. Carbonated soft drinks can also cause this.
- Lack of Physical Activity: A reduction in your usual exercise can affect digestion and may increase the chances of bloating.
- Growing Uterus: As your baby grows, so does your uterus. This can put pressure on your abdominal cavity and contribute to feeling bloated and full.
- Stress and Anxiety: Emotions like stress and anxiety can impact your digestion and contribute to bloating.
- Overeating: Eating a high volume of food at a meal can cause feeling overly full and bloating.
How To Prevent Bloating In Pregnancy
Keep a diary to identify food triggers.
Keeping an up-to-date food diary for a few days may help identify bloating triggers during pregnancy. By writing down what you eat and when you experience bloating, you may be able to identify what may be causing you to feel bloated and gassy. If a food trigger is present, you may be able to identify and limit it for now. Common culprits include onions, dairy, beans, and cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, kale, and cauliflower.
Eat high-fiber foods.
Consuming enough high-fiber foods is important for gut health and constipation prevention during pregnancy. Constipation is a very common cause of bloating. If this is the root cause of your bloating, be sure to eat plenty of fiber. Increase fiber in your diet slowly and alongside plenty of fluids. Opt for whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables to increase fiber intake.
Stay hydrated.
Drinking plenty of water and fluids can help with many things, not just bloating. However, bloating wise, it helps to keep things moving in your digestive tract, lowering the chances of constipation and bloating. Adding minerals (or electrolytes) to your water once per day can also help!
Eat probiotic-rich foods.
Probiotics are helpful bacteria that support healthy gut flora, aiding in digestion. Add probiotic-rich food into your diet by including things like sauerkraut, yogurt, and kefir. Yogurt is good for pregnancy, easy to incorporate, and delicious. So, why not add it to your diet?
However, this one may not be the right strategy for everyone. While probiotic-rich foods are helpful for improving gut health and preventing issues like bloating, if you’re actively experiencing bloating, it could make it worse right now. This is more of a preventive measure than one to implement if bloating is already occurring.
Walk and move often.
Regularly getting up to walk or move can help promote good digestion and reduce bloating. Try to walk daily or get up occasionally and walk around the house. One great strategy to implement is post-meal walks! A 10-15 minute walk after a meal can help support balanced blood sugar and reduce bloating.
Limit carbonated drinks.
While carbonated drinks may help curb nausea for some, they may be best avoided during pregnancy if you’re having trouble with bloating. They introduce excess gas into your system, heightening the chances of bloating. If water is feeling boring and you’re looking for other ways to change it up, check out our list of the best drinks for early pregnancy.
Manage your stress.
While it’s often easier said than done, managing stress and anxiety levels can help prevent and manage bloating. Try deep breathing exercises, meditation, or prenatal massage to keep yourself calm and resilient.
Eat smaller, more frequent meals.
Consider making smaller meals more often instead of having three large meals daily. This can help you avoid or curb bloating during pregnancy. It is also great for filling nutrient gaps and getting essential vitamins and minerals!
Feel better and curb bloating during pregnancy with the nutrition and lifestyle tips above!
Do you often feel bloated during pregnancy? I know this can feel incredibly frustrating and uncomfortable to experience during pregnancy. So, let’s help manage that, starting with the tips above!
My mission is to share information and guidance that helps you confidently fuel your body during pregnancy and reduce common symptoms to have the feel-good pregnancy you deserve. I even offer a FREE One-Week Meal Plan to fuel you with nourishing and tasty meals during pregnancy!
For more detailed and expert-crafted guides and meal plans, join The Prenatal Nutrition Library app. Inside, you’ll gain access to thousands of resources, from nutrition guides to meal plans and a private podcast about all things prenatal nutrition. This way, we can take the guessing and stress out of nutrition during pregnancy!
