Pregnancy is an incredibly special time for women and their families, but it can also come with its own set of worries. One of these worries is the safety of the food and medications a woman consumes during her pregnancy, as even common medications and food items can have potentially dangerous side effects and risks to the unborn child. One common over-the-counter medication that pregnant women often take is Tums, but can too many Tums hurt the baby during pregnancy? This blog post will dive into this question, exploring the potential risks associated with Tums during pregnancy, as well as offering tips on how to manage heartburn and other common tummy troubles.
Pay attention to what you eat
Avoid spicy, greasy, acidic, and flatulent-producing foods. When you’re not pregnant, you might not have any issues, but when you are, they can be very uncomfortable.
Some common offenders include:
About one in 10 Canadians will have a kidney stone at some point in their life, according to the Kidney Foundation of Canada. The causes are complicated, but you’re more likely to experience certain types of stones if you don’t drink enough water (at least eight glasses a day) or if you have an excessively imbalanced diet, with too much salt, meat and processed foods. In general, it is advised to drink lots of fluids and eat a balanced diet to prevent kidney stones. If your kidney stone is caused by too much calcium—the most common type—you may also be advised to reduce oxalates from foods like beets, nuts and chocolate. Oxalates prevent calcium from being absorbed by your body, causing it to spill into your urine. Doctors don’t usually recommend cutting natural sources of calcium from your diet, but will advise people who are at risk for kidney stones to stop using calcium supplements.
One other reason you definitely don’t want to overdo the calcium—pregnant or not—is a rare but frightening condition called calcium alkali syndrome (CAS)—which can lead to kidney failure, as well a slew of other symptoms including vomiting and dehydration.
It is now clear that I should have been seeing a doctor if I was taking antacids for heartburn that frequently. “The [Tums] label says don’t take it for more than two weeks unless a physician tells you to,” says Women’s College Hospital OB/GYN Amanda Selk. The issue with over-the-counter medications in general is that “I don’t know that everyone always reads or asks,” Selk asserts that because calcium carbonate is not a particularly effective antacid to begin with, many women would be better served by taking a more potent antacid. The bottom line is that trying a combination of treatments is preferable to taking too much of one thing if you can’t control or prevent heartburn during pregnancy with your diet.
So, why aren’t there warnings about side effects? Before I started taking the antacids, I had called the Motherisk helpline, which gave me the go-ahead to use them as recommended, as they have no known health risks to the fetus. But one small study by the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine in 2015 showed that taking calcium supplements (which is basically what calcium-carbonate antacid tablets are) may worsen stone disease for patients who are known to form kidney stones.
Within hours, I was bellowing like an injured animal in a hospital emergency room while struggling with contractions that felt remarkably similar to those I had gone through during the unmedicated births of my two young daughters. However, with the addition of vomiting and the terrifying unpredictability of what was happening to me, this was actually worse. The doctor eventually identified the kidney stone that was causing the severe pain after running several blood tests and performing an ultrasound. After receiving three rounds of morphine, I was discharged home with a prescription for Percocets to take until the stone could be removed. I was also left wondering why, at 39 and in excellent health, I had developed a kidney stone.
How Many Tums Can I Take When Pregnant?
There is no question that calcium is an important nutrient for bone health, both in mom and baby. Since Tums is made from calcium, any Tums you take will count toward the 1,300 mg daily recommended amount of calcium (source: NIH).
There is an upper limit of how much calcium per day is safe, however. It is best not to exceed 2500 mg of calcium per day (source: Mayo Clinic).
Depending on the product’s strength, you can only consume so many Tums each day. Original-style Tums are 40% calcium. Finding out how much calcium is in each tablet is simple.
For example, say you took 1 Tums 500 tablet. Take 500 x 0. 4 = 200 mg calcium.
Do keep in mind, you are likely also getting some calcium from your diet, so it is best not to meet the 2,500 mg upper limit from Tums alone. To help you dose Tums, the brand offers a helpful pregnancy dosage guide on their website. You can find it here.
There is a daily maximum for the number of Tums that can be taken without harm, but regular use of the tablets is still safe. To receive personalized guidance on how many Tums are safe for you and your unborn child, be sure to speak with your healthcare professional or pharmacist.
It’s also important to note that taking Tums just before a meal can prevent other necessary nutrients like iron and phosphorus from being properly absorbed.
In order to get the most from your food or dietary supplements, try to give yourself around 2 hours or more between meals and taking Tums (source: American Pregnancy Association, Nova Scotia Health).
FAQ
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