Chest Pain Seems like Its Around My Heart

Most likely it's

- Acid Reflux
- A pulled muscle
- Gas (believe it or not, gas is the most common fake-out for a heart attack)
- A cracked rib
- The cartilage/tendons doing that weird loosening

But it could be:
- An inflamtion of the lining of the pleural space (either heart or more likely lungs), usually caused by a simple bacterial infection. A weeks worth of antibiotics and you're golden.
- Walking pneumonia
- Pregnancy inspired hypertention
- Dehydration
- Small heart attacks
- etc
- etc

Now, the first group is annoying, but not dangerous. The second group is d.a.n.g.e.r.o.u.s. I'm with you on the midwife/home birth. I had a midwife. BUT if you're avoiding taking care of your health and the health of your wee one, because you're afraid that you might NOT have anything wrong....um....does that make sense?

Women have been having their children at home for tens of thousands of years. We still do. But women have been dieing in childbirth for tens of thousands of years. We still do. And some of us get sick when we're pregnant. And some of us die when we're pregnant. Most docs do everything they can to avoid the label High Risk. It's nervy making. You're probably not. You probably don't even have anything serious going on. But what if you ARE high risk? What if you DO have something serious going on? Is it worth your life, or your babies to prove a point? Is it worth orphaning your children because you're afraid to go to the doctor?

Go see the doctor. It's probably nothing. So go make sure of that. You owe it to yourself.

Hi B.,

I've had similar chest pains (but not during pregnancy). One of the causes was muscular. I felt the pain around my heart area, but when I explored with my fingers, I found a huge painful knot near my left front shoulder/armpit and the pain from it was radiating down. It's happened a few times and I'm convinced it was strain from carrying my son on that side a lot. Maybe it's something like that?

I've also had chest pains that were not muscular. It was like my heart was working hard and even though my heart rate was normal, it just felt like it was working twice as hard. I thought it was related to my thyroid, but it turns out that I was also iron deficient (which is pretty common in pregnancy). Iron supplies oxygen through your blood to your heart. If your iron levels haven't been checked out recently, it wouldn't hurt to do a simple blood test. It's so easy to just take one Slow-Fe pill a day if that's the issue.

Hope this helps. God bless you and your family!

E. :)

Please go to a doctor. I'm a big fan of midwives and have nothing against them but if you're having heart issues they are not qualified to diagnose you. My sister had heart pain & some fainting while she was pregnant. It ended up that she had an atrial fibrilation and had to have heart surgery after the pregnancy. It isn't the most common situation but can happen. Her heart condition was caused by pregnancy. I couldn't let the day go by without responding to your question...anything can happen. Take care, hope all is well.

I'm on my first pregnancy and my heart would race starting at about 20 weeks. My OBGYN said it was normal and that there was extra blood that my heart was trying to circulate that would cause the episodes. My heart would race for about 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Doctor said it was normal. You could be experiencing something like that or you may have heart burn. Either way, its better to be safe than sorry. Talk to a doctor about your symptoms. Good luck with #3. Cheers, B.

DO NOT RISK YOUR HEALTH AND THE HEALTH OF YOUR BABY BECAUSE YOU ARE AFRAID YOU MIGHT BE LABELED 'HIGH RISK'. The odds are that you are experiencing GERD or several other non-threating conditions; HOWEVER -- if there is something seriously wrong, you need to get it diagnosed NOW !!!!!!!
I had heartburn problems during my pregnancies, but about 10 years later started having some wierd chest pains. Had stress EKG, etc. and the heart looked ok. The pains would come and go, but recently I started having upper abdominal pains. Thought it was an ulcer, but an endoscopy revealed a hiatal hernia, which explained all the wierd symptoms I was having. The point is, that chest pains can be caused by other conditions besides heart problems. My condition is annoying, but manageable -- you need to go to a doctor and figure out what is causing your chest pains. Good luck and Congrats on #3.

Hi B.-

I don't know if it's the same pain as yours but I had a lot of heartburn with my second pregnancy, and have never had it since, or with my first pregnancy for that matter. I would go to the Dr. asap though and let then tell you that it's just heartburn. Really, better safe then sorry!

I think I understand your desire for another homebirth but sometimes it's not to be. My first child was an emergency c-section and if I hadn't gone to the hospital both she and I would be dead, or possibly braindead. When I talk to my midwife friend's, they just shake their head and tell me how bad that could have been. With my second, I wanted to have a natural birth, but in the hospital, just in case. I had a birth plan and had my Dr. sign off on it. We compromised on certain things as well. Like I had a IV line in, but it wasn't hooked up to anything, it was just there in case of an emergency. When I checked into the hospital, they assigned me to a nurse that was of the same mindset as me, and she didn't push the drugs. Anyway, I did have the natural birth that I wanted with no drugs, and the people I wanted in there including a doula. And I had a healthy son!!

Good Luck and let us know...

B.,
I would have it checked by your doctor immediately. Second guessing could waste time that could be important to your health and the health of your baby. Better safe than sorry.
Good luck.

Hi Barabara,
I would be curious to hear what your chest pain feels like. I have a mild heart condition that is activated when I am under stress or had a lot of caffeine. When I have my episodes it feels like my heart is turning in my chest. It doesn't hurt, but gets annoying if it continues for more than 15 minutes. I had to go to a cardiologist to figure out what it was, and I was told that it is nothing to worry about. I would suggest talking to you ob/gyn first and see if it's worth taking a visit to a specialist.

B.,

I had chest pain in my pregnancy that ended up being because my back was straining. It was a sharp pain in the dead of my chest that would stop me in my tracks. I had to have massages and do stretches at home to help ease the tension on my back. It was just the way my uterus was carrying that pregnancy.

Definitely get a doctor to check it out. I thought the same thing, I was going to need tests and it was just a very simple realignment of my back and posture.

Congrats!

Hello, I just want to say that when you are having pain around your heart, it could be something else besides your heart. However, better to err on the side of caution and mention this to your midwife than to have complications later on.
Good luck with your precious family.
K. K.

make an appointment with you o b dr. immiatly its probale not much but pleasa check it out good luck A. no. hills