Description

Dr. Suzanne Sorof shares what a woman should not eat during pregnancy to ensure her heart remains healthy.

Transcript

During pregnancy you should try to avoid caffeine. Caffeine is as stimulant and it does cause extra palpitations. The other foods are obviously to avoid tobacco and alcohol which can cause changes in your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system which can cause heart racing. Things such as chocolate, heavy, foods that are very heavy in tomato base, things can cause people to have a lot of heartburn or reflux and cause people to be uncomfortable. So during pregnancy over-the-counter medicines such as stimulants, decongestants should be avoided because that also can affect the heart rate and rhythm. If you do feel symptoms of lightheadedness, dizziness, your heart skipping a beat, you definitely want to bring it to your provider’s attention and ask to see a cardiologist. We can do things such as putting a heart monitor on and monitoring somebody for a 24-hour period to make sure they are not having what we call serious or dangerous rhythms that could lead to decreased blood flow to both the mom and the baby. If you are concerned about your heart rate or heart rhythm or have had anything dangerous such as fainting or passing out or feeling lightheaded, you know, contact somebody who you think can help. People are always available. Your doctors always are here to help and we have no problem answering the questions and seeing you on a timely basis rather than waiting for something to happen that could be more dangerous for you and the baby.