Home Remedies for Treating Swollen Feet During Pregnancy 2024

What is edema? Swollen feet during pregnancy is a side effect that around 80% of women^[1] experience for at least part of their term. It’s usually nothing to worry about, but we will dive into when your swollen feet may be an indicator of another problem later on.

For now, though, let’s explore eight of the easiest home remedies for swollen feet during pregnancy that you can try today. It’s not always easy, but it’s definitely going to be worth it.

The majority of these simple solutions for pregnancy swelling cost little or nothing at all, and they may end up improving your levels of comfort a lot, especially in the third trimester of your pregnancy. They’re also great home remedies for swollen feet after a C-section.

Drink Less Coffee

Does drinking plenty of coffee put your baby at risk? According to many studies, it does^[2]. Caffeine intake while pregnant might lead to complications like low birth weight and miscarriage. It can also cause your body to hold onto excess water unnecessarily.

Because coffee is a diuretic, something that causes you to urinate more frequently, it prompts your body to hold onto water more miserly. On top of the horrifying consequences mentioned above, too much coffee or tea will also make pregnancy swelling much worse.

Drink More Water

To combat the dehydration instinct we touched upon briefly, staying hydrated sends a message to your body: there’s no reason to hold into so much extra water.

Around 10 glasses of water, a day is our recommendation. Drinking enough water can also help you regulate your body temperature, leading us right into our next tip.

Stay Cool

Staying cool can keep your swelling at bay. When possible, stay out of the sun, especially during the hot summer months. 

Choose cooler beverages, and take a cool shower if you’re feeling overheated. Avoid exerting yourself unnecessarily, as this will elevate your body temperature. Swimming is another great way to beat the heat.

Take a Nice Bath

You can use hot or cold water for swollen feet during pregnancy, and it’s one of our favorite ways to relieve swollen feet and ankles.

A soothing bath with Epsom salt is one of the best ways to relax and put your body at ease. You might consider adding all-natural essential oil to your bath water to make it a more therapeutic, spa-like experience. 

Take a Short Walk

Moving your legs is another way to get things flowing. A short walk on level terrain once or twice a day can help you reduce your swelling naturally.

We recommend wearing comfortable shoes and a sun hat to prevent yourself from overheating. Walk the dog, sniff the roses, or simply visit your local library—there are a million excuses to choose from.

Eat More Potassium

Hypokalemia^[3], a potassium deficiency, may make swelling in your ankles worse during pregnancy. Potassium plays a role in fluid retention and management, and a lack of this vital nutrient may put you at risk.

Potassium-rich foods also help your body regulate its electrolyte balance, which is also super important when carrying a baby. We recommend a healthy diet that includes plenty of sweet potatoes with the skins on, bananas, legumes, and dark, leafy greens. 

Put Your Feet Up

Keeping your feet elevated negates one obvious contributor to swollen feet and ankles during pregnancy—gravity. Keeping your feet up literally draws the water away from your swollen limbs, doing more of the heavy lifting when your system becomes overwhelmed.

Use Compression Socks

Compression socks, also known as compression stockings, gently massage the extra fluid out of your lower limbs. 

They’re often used post-op and in similar situations where one is bed-bound and unable to exercise their legs normally; athletes also use them to recover after an arduous physical challenge. They can be used to improve your lower-body circulation and keep your limbs free and clear of excess water.

Causes of Swollen Feet During Pregnancy

Edema is a term used to describe swelling caused by a build-up^[4] of excess fluid in a part of your body, more fluid than it’s used to holding ordinarily. It’s one of the most common causes of foot swelling and swollen ankles during pregnancy.

Swelling, in this case, is normally due to more water in a pregnant body than in a non-pregnant one—as a result, the hydrostatic pressure^[5] in your body increases. This basically means that the water exerts more pressure that pushes it from the veins and lymphatics into the tissues nearby.

This increase in body fluid may be as much as 6 to 8 liters, and most of it is kept in the intracellular milieu. This free water follows gravity, collecting and pooling in the lower extremities, most prominently the feet and ankles.

While this side effect of pregnancy is completely normal, sodium^[6] intake can heighten its effect, causing you to retain more water and make the swelling worse. When possible, reduce your use of table salt and try to avoid processed foods to prevent swelling, along with any of the natural remedies listed above.

Alternatively, some pregnant women are at risk of venous insufficiency during pregnancy. Hormonal changes^[7] might impose a negative effect on the venous tone of your blood vessels, which makes it more difficult for your circulatory system to carry blood from the lower extremities back up to your heart and through the rest of the body. 

The blood pooling that results may cause you to experience swollen feet similarly as your blood flow becomes more and more inhibited over time. This change in blood circulation may be further exacerbated by the uterus’s new demand for blood—its blood circulation needs to jump to around 16% of one’s cardiac output from the 3% it usually requires when you’re not pregnant. It may also be putting more pressure on the inferior vena cava, which will inevitably restrict its ability to manage your blood volume as it did before.

All of the above may contribute to fluid retention, ankle-swelling, and swollen feet. Again, all of this is fairly common and should be expected. When should you be concerned about extra fluid in your body, though?

When to See a Doctor

While swelling of the legs, feet, and ankles, especially during late pregnancy, is totally normal, you should seek medical attention if your symptoms are especially advanced or sudden.

If the excess fluids in your body present themselves in any of the following ways, you should consult your physician immediately:

• Swelling in the morning that does not relieve itself throughout the day, even with rest
• Swelling of the upper body—the hands, the face, the neck, and the surrounding tissue
• Sudden swelling, completely out of the blue
• Extreme swelling, bloating you too much larger than your pre-pregnancy size

Long periods of severe swelling after the 20th week of pregnancy may be an indicator of pre-eclampsia^[8], a severe problem that might even lead to a blood clot if not assessed and addressed by a medical professional. 

High blood pressure is one hallmark of this disorder. Blood pressure is suddenly much higher than usual, headaches, blurry vision, pain below the right rib cage, nausea, and vomiting are other common symptoms to watch out for, along with swelling of the lower legs and extra protein content in your urine output.

Pre-eclampsia is one of the most dangerous perils of the third trimester, especially if it is severe. If you believe your swelling is due to this life-threatening condition, seek immediate medical attention at once.

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