Many future mothers during pregnancy suffer from insomnia. And this is not related to any pathologies, but is a consequence of the changes in the woman’s body that are happening now. But proper rest is very important for the well-being of the mother and the normal development of the baby. You should try to restore sleep, in no case without resorting to drugs.
At what period of pregnancy is insomnia more likely?
In the early stages of pregnancy, women rarely experience sleep problems – in the first trimester, on the contrary, many of the expectant mothers hibernate. But it happens in a different way – the hormone progesterone, which is now actively being produced by the body, from the very first days simply does not allow “relaxing”.
Most often it is late in pregnancy accompanied by sleep disorders. A woman has more reasons to worry about the upcoming birth, the growing tummy makes movement very difficult day by day, the baby is actively moving – there are a lot of reasons for insomnia in the third trimester.
Sleep mode started to glitch? Do not panic – this condition, if a woman before pregnancy did not reveal any serious psychological diseases, is considered normal.
Why is sleep disturbed during pregnancy?
The causes that cause sleep disorders during pregnancy are divided into physiological and psychological.
For physiological reasons include:
- Inconvenient posture. Pregnant women are not recommended to sleep on the stomach and back. But if, before the onset of pregnancy, a woman used to fall asleep in this way, now she will experience some discomfort.
- Toxicosis. Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and increased salivation. And unpleasant symptoms can disturb mother not only in the early morning, but also in the evening – it sometimes interferes with a full sleep.
- Problems with the digestive tract. Especially often expectant mothers tormented heartburn – discomfort in the stomach can be disturbed throughout the day, and even at night.
- Frequent urging to the toilet. The uterus puts pressure on the bladder — a woman may wake up several times a night to go to the toilet. Intermittent sleep is not the most positive effect on the regime.
- Low back pain often interferes with relaxation.
- Cramps. A woman is gaining weight, which increases the load on her legs – some mothers wake up several times during the night because the muscles of the limbs are cramping.
- Active movement of the fetus. This is especially evident by the middle of the third trimester.
- Dyspnea. An enlarged uterus puts pressure on all internal organs, including the lungs – this makes breathing difficult and can cause poor sleep.
Among the psychological causes of sleep disorders during pregnancy the most common are:
- Stress – fear of the upcoming changes in life, anxiety for the baby.
- Nightmares. A characteristic phenomenon for late terms of pregnancy, which is primarily due to the internal anxieties of the mother.
- Chronic fatigue. Solving domestic problems, everyday cares, child care (if this is the second pregnancy) – all this worsens the quality of sleep.
Normalize wakefulness and sleep is quite real. Do not panic – this is a temporary phenomenon.
How to expectant mother to restore sleep?
To normalize sleep, review your daily routine. Recommendations are as follows:
- Do not go to bed late and get up early. And even after giving birth, this habit will help you very much to adapt to the regime of the day of the infant.
- Morning exercises, yoga, exercise on fitball or in the pool – light physical exertion will take away your energy, which will contribute to a quick sleep.
- Walk more often – fresh air calms.
- Eat on schedule, dividing the daily amount of food into 4-6 servings. Do not go to bed with a full stomach.
- Give up drinking coffee. The drink adversely affects the health of the mother, and the development of the baby.
- Ventilate the room before going to bed.
- Do not watch TV at night. If you want to occupy yourself with something, better read.
- Go to bed in a good mood, discarding unpleasant thoughts.
- Take a warm shower before bedtime – it is relaxing.
- Go to bed in comfortable fitting clothes.
- A light massage of the back, shoulders and legs helps.
Sleep will be comfortable if you create all the conditions for this:
- To relieve tension from your lower extremities and fall asleep faster, you can put pillows under your legs – this is how swelling disappears faster and less disturb convulsions.
- If the active movements of the baby prevent you from falling asleep, change the position – perhaps in this way he “tells” you that he does not have enough oxygen.
- A real cushion for mothers are special pillows for pregnant women. They come in different shapes and with different fillers – choose the one that suits you best. These products allow you to take a comfortable posture and relieve back pain. Pillows can be used after childbirth – when feeding a baby.
- Talk to your doctor about which remedy is right for you to get rid of heartburn. And if at night you will not be given a burning sensation in the stomach, you can take action.
- Can’t fall asleep? Drink a glass of warm milk with a spoon of honey – it will calm you a little.
- If you do not have enough space to sit comfortably in bed, it is better to sleep alone. Ask your spouse to “move in” to another room.
A healthy lifestyle and compliance with simple recommendations in most cases helps the expectant mother to normalize sleep.
Health of mother and baby: refrain from taking pills!
Pregnancy is a strict contraindication to the use of sleeping pills and sedatives. Whatever the temptation to resort to using pills to normalize sleep, a future mother should give up this solution to the problem altogether! Even those preparations that contain herbal ingredients in the composition can harm health baby
Friends advised to drink “harmless” decoctions of herbs? Yes, many of them, indeed, contribute to the normalization of sleep – but in this case, do not start insomnia therapy without consulting a specialist!