Tums not good for the placenta?!?

[sammilynn]

Anyone else heard of this? One of my friends made a comment that her MW told her not to use tums because of the risk of calcification of the placenta. She said it can cause nutrients to not be able to cross and can cause the baby's heart rate to decelerate during labor? Anybody can give more info or give proof one way or another?

[haydensmom]

I have no proof but I've never, ever heard that!

[JJorn]

I hope not! Tums is always my first line of defense for heart burn. I do stop taking my calcium supplements when I take them.

[runningmomofmany]

I've ne er heard it either, and considering the huge number of pregnant women who have taken huge amounts of tums over the last few decades, I would think if it was a real problem we would have heard about it!

[macksmom]

I seriously ate up to 10 tums/day sometimes, especially during my last pregnancy. I can't imagine it's harmful and my babies are fine - no placenta issues reported.

I had heard that somewhere during my last pregnancy though....

[pumpkinpeejays]

Um, I think it's an urban myth..... but I suppose you could bring it up wt your next OB appt to be sure. I wouldn't have survived this PG without Tums, and when my Doc asked what OTC things I was taking, I mentioned them and he didn't say a word.

[runningmomofmany]

Searching online all the hits are from forums like this one with people posting "I have heard..." i'd go with urban myth too.

[Bridget]

I don't know if it's true or not and hope it's ok if I jump in but have you tried papaya enzymes?

[sammilynn]

I don't know if it's true or not and hope it's ok if I jump in but have you tried papaya enzymes?

I know I can not use papaya enzymes cause of my heparin. I don't have heartburn yet but it got me thinking and I think I will take this up with my OB to see what she finds. Maybe she can take a look and compare as she does births lol

[hotpinkmomma0811]

Talk to your ob about it because my ob had a print out of safe medicine and tums were on that list.

[babykenny]

Never heard it either. It is mostly calcium, right?

[sammilynn]

Yeah it is. It makes me wonder though if there could be some truth to it. I know that the med is considered safe but I also wonder if there may be something they have not really looked into yet.

[Babidol]

I can't take tums or rolaids or anything like that because of my kidney stones. I make calcium carbonate stones and the tums can make it worse. Thus, I'm guessing you pee out much of the calcium contained in them with very little crossing into the placenta. Same with vitamins :/ your body only absorbs so much.

[JJorn]

If you are prone to calcium stones or take way too much any sort of calcium supplementation would be bad. I would think for short periods of time you could take a lot of Tums - doesn't the bottle tell you the max you can take and for how long? If you need to take Tums all day long then I would think that you should pursue something else to treat heartburn.

[MellieOham]

I remember reading an article that said antacids shouldn't be taken during the first trimester, but were ok during the 2nd & 3rd. I will see if I can find it again...

I found the info on a site called safefetus.com

Fetal Risk

The dose of calcium is within the recommended dietary allowance (rda) in pregnancy but should be avoided in the first trimester because of potential teratogenicity.
Safe in the last two trimesters if chronic high doses are avoided.
The use of calcium in pregnancy may cause fetal hypomagnesemia, increased deep tendon reflexes and increased muscle tone.


Because of this I avoided antacids during my first trimester but do occasionally take them now.

[ZsaZsa]

Wouldn't have survived my pg without them! However, I never took more than t he recommended dose on the bottle! Saved them mostly for the late night wake you up heartburn!

[macksmom]

I started taking pepcid ac (doc suggested) and it cut down on the # of Tums I needed to take. I also drank a small glass of milk instead of a Tums at times and that helped as well. I was just taking WAY too many so I was trying to find whatever else I could do to cut down.

I still need to take them too! Only after dinner usually but still....

[Babidol]

I'm currently taking Prevacid. I don't take any over the counter calcium supplements per my urologist. I make stones way too easy and then usually need lithotripsy to remove them.

[JJorn]

So they are sayins no calcium supplementation at all during the first trimester? I always am taking calcium to prevent bone loss for at least the last 10 years. I don't really eat any dairy products and probably not enough of the other high calcium vegetables, etc. I don't see why taking the recommended amount of calcium would be harmful to your baby.