Sleeping While Pregnant
Expectant parents know that it’ll be harder to get a good night’s sleep after their little one arrives, but who would have guessed that getting enough sleep during pregnancy would be difficult too?
When you’re pregnant, your body goes through a variety of changes and thee changes tend to disrupt your usual slumber. This can be due to the increased size of your abdomen, back pain, heartburn, shortness of breath or insomnia.
If you’ve always been a back or stomach sleeper, you might have trouble getting used to sleeping on your side, which is the most recommended sleeping position for pregnant women. It’s even better to sleep on your left side because it will increase the amount of blood and nutrients that reach the placenta and your baby.
If you are having problems with back pain, use the “SOS” (sleep on side) position and try placing a pillow under your abdomen as well.
If you are experiencing heartburn during the night, you may want to try propping your upper body up with pillows.
In late pregnancy you may start to experience shortness of breath. Lying on your side or propping yourself up with pillows can help alleviate this issue.
It is important to avoid sleeping on your back during pregnancy because this can cause problems with backaches, breathing, your digestive system, hemorrhoids, low blood pressure and decrease circulation to your heart and your baby. These are all a result of your abdomen resting on your intestines and major blood vessels.
It’s also important to avoid getting used to sleeping on your stomach. When you are farther along in your pregnancy, your abdomen undergoes physical changes that will make it very difficult to lie no your stomach.
Early in your pregnancy, try getting into the habit of sleeping on your side to avoid major discomfort during the later stages of pregnancy. Shifting positions is a natural part of sleeping that you can’t control so don’t drive yourself crazy worrying that you might roll over onto your back during the night. If you do shift onto your back, the discomfort will most likely wake you up.