Is It Safe To Drink Alkaline Water During Pregnancy?

The hardest part for any woman during her pregnancy is to know whether she is doing everything right. Amidst pregnancy’s joyful hope, you have millions of things to worry about, starting from what you eat and drink. Many ladies take note of eating nutritious and safe food during pregnancy, while the drinking part is less noticeable.

Yes, you quit drinking alcohol and stop drinking coffee when you get pregnant, but can that be all? Most importantly, you should drink plenty of water during pregnancy to be sufficiently hydrated. The water you drink should be more than your normal intake before pregnancy. And on top of it, it is recommended that you drink alkaline water for various health-related benefits during pregnancy, before, and after pregnancy.

Is it safe to drink alkaline water during pregnancy?

Yes, it’s not only safe to drink alkaline water during pregnancy; it also helps you with some health benefits. We know how important it is for anyone to drink water and how beneficial it can be to anyone, but the type of water you drink can also make a difference during pregnancy. Also, because your body tends to tilt towards being acidic, drinking alkaline water helps you balance the pH level in your body.

First of all, let’s know something about the pH scale. The pH scale goes from 1 to 14, with 7 being neutral. When something has a pH less than 7, it is more acidic, and as the scale increases, alkalinity also increases. The pH level of 1 is highly acidic, whereas the pH level of 14 is highly alkaline. Water belongs to the scale between 6.5 and 9 in pH balance, which means it is more or less neutral.

Alkaline water has a pH level that exceeds 7 and has a subtly bitter taste. During pregnancy, a woman’s body tends to become acidic, which is why alkaline water is recommended. While drinking alkaline water helps to balance the acidic effect of pregnancy and helps to have a balanced pH level in the body. So, it is better to drink alkaline water starting when you prepare for your pregnancy, during the pregnancy, and even post-pregnancy.

As it is widely recommended for pregnant women to drink alkaline water, there are some benefits you must know about.

Health Benefits of Alkaline Water

We already know what alkaline water is and what it does, but here are some health benefits you can relate to when pregnant. The following points can resonate with your pregnant self and explain where you can see the difference made by normal and alkaline water in your body.

• Alkaline water helps your body balance its natural pH level during pregnancy. As the pregnant body tends to be more acidic than the non-pregnant body, it is beneficial to drink alkaline water and help your body.
• It helps to reduce morning sickness and nausea during pregnancy. During the first few months of pregnancy, the body gives alkaline minerals to the placenta to neutralize the acidic discharges from the fetus. It is known that acidity alleviates morning sickness in pregnant women. So, while drinking alkaline water, we can immediately find the difference as the morning sickness reduces.
• It is found that drinking alkaline water also helps in smoother deliveries.
• With the use of alkaline water, the likelihood of jaundice in the baby and the mother can be reduced.
• Alkaline water also helps increase lactation in mothers.
• Alkaline water has natural calcium, which helps pregnant women have healthy bones and reduces calcium loss while helping the baby have healthy teeth and bones.
• Drinking alkaline water helps new moms recover fast after delivery.
• It helps to rehydrate your body, as does the normal water. A hydrated body can fight against headaches, nausea, vomiting, and other pregnancy effects.

While going through the benefits of alkaline water, you may have wondered where we can find it and how we can turn the normal water in our home into alkaline water. You can use the following ways to get alkaline water.

• First, you can always visit a supermarket or grocery store to find bottled alkaline water. This is made by ionizing water using machinery and contains many nutritive elements required by your body when pregnant.
• You can also ionize water at home to make it alkaline. Different processes for alkaline water include adding pH drops to normal water, ionizing filters, and baking soda or lime juice. But first, you need to know how alkaline you want your water to be and the pH level of the water before ionizing it.

Side Effects of Alkaline Water

You now know that alkaline water is safe to drink. But, everything has negative sides, and similar is the case for alkaline water too. Too much alkaline water can cause malfunctioning of the body once the pH level exceeds the capacity.

Alkalinity can be dangerous as acidity and consuming too much alkaline water can cause a nutritional imbalance in the body. Several normal cells are found to have died in an excessively alkaline environment.

Another side effect of drinking alkaline water during pregnancy is neutralization with gastric acid. It diminishes your digestion capability, and you might suffer from malabsorption.

It is always better to consult your doctor before drinking alkaline water because all the bodies are different. You also should find out about your body’s pH level and measure how drinking alkaline water can benefit your body before using it.

If you have something to add to the topic, please feel free to enlighten other moms and to-be moms by putting your opinion in the comment box below.

Roy Mashiach

Dr. Mashiach has completed his MD at the Sackler School of Medicine, TAU; specialization in gynecology at the Lis Maternity and Women’s Hospital, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center; fellowship in Endoscopy at the Polyclinique de I’Hotel-Dieu, Universite d’Auvergne, Clermont, France.

He is a Senior Physician, Director of the Department of Gynecology, which provides routine and preventative care services to its patients and a full range of gynecological surgical procedures for adequately managing its patients with benign gynecologic disorders.

He offers advanced care in all gynecological subspecialties such as Urogynecology, Colposcopy, Fetal Loss Clinic, and Post Menopausal Clinic.