INFORMATION FOR WOMEN WHO HAVE METABOLIC ACIDOSIS DURING PREGNANCY OR BREASTFEEDING

What is metabolic acidosis during pregnancy?

Metabolic acidosis is a situation in which the pH of your body fluids and other tissues is less than 7.35, due to the body either losing too much of an electrolyte called bicarbonate (HCO3-) or producing excessive acid on account of abnormalities of metabolism. To discuss metabolic acidosis, we need to touch upon two math-oriented concepts. One concept is pH, which normally ranges from 7.35 to 7.45 when measured in blood samples, but urine pH has a much wider normal range. The other concept is called the anion gap (AG). Also measured in samples of blood and urine, the AG is the difference between the sum of the concentrations of the positive electrolytes, also known as cations, and the negative electrolytes, also known as anions. Normally, cations slightly outnumber anions - that’s why it’s called an anion gap, but if the AG is very big, this is called a high AG. It’s the basis for categorizing metabolic acidosis into two broad categories: high anion gap metabolic acidosis (HAGMA) and normal anion gap metabolic acidosis (NAGMA).