Should pregnant women avoid heartburn medication?
New research published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology has some asking if it’s safe for pregnant women to take over the counter heartburn medication such as Tums and Zantac. A review of the health records of over 1.3 million children reflects that children whose mothers took heartburn meds during pregnancy were one-third more likely to have childhood asthma. Unfortunately, heartburn is extremely common during pregnancy, especially during the second and third trimesters. While these statistics are troublesome, the study’s authors stress that more research is needed to determine if these medicines actually cause asthma in children.