Insomnia During Pregnancy – Causes & Treatments

Insomnia during pregnancy is quite common. There are several reasons for insomnia, and pregnancy is one of them!

Fortunately, it is relatively simple to treat this kind of sleep order without medications, which is vital because most insomnia medications have not received FDA approval for use during pregnancy. Misuse of any medication, for that matter, may affect the placenta and affect the fetus.

Causes of Insomnia During Pregnancy

#Stress and Anxiety

One of the most common reasons for pregnancy insomnia is depression or anxiety. Many women get very nervous during their pregnancies, especially if it is their first pregnancy. It is common to feel worried about your ability to be a good parent, have financial worries, or worry about your baby’s health, or whether or not you might have a miscarriage.

This type of stress can cause your mind to race at night as you think of all the things that might go wrong, and this racing mind keeps you awake. It is essential to try to quiet your mind before you go to sleep. This can be accomplished through reading or self-hypnosis.

There are several good self-hypnosis apps on the market. Go with the ones that use a low, slow tone behind speech, but most of them will work. The main thing is to clear your mind and slow your thought pattern down. Once your mind manages to slow down, you will find it much easier to sleep.

#Heartburn

Another cause of insomnia during pregnancy is heartburn. This is due to a cloud of things. First, the hormones in the body change and affect acid production and the muscles in the digestive tract.

Second, as the uterus and the fetus grow, they can press on the stomach and cause acid to be pushed up through the esophagus, a condition known as acid reflux. You should try drinking a glass of warm milk before bedtime. Drinking warm milk has a soothing effect and minimizes the chances of acid production.

#General Discomforts

Pregnancy can also cause general discomfort of all kinds. Women may experience itching as their skin stretches. They may have pain in their navel as the skin around them is stretched to the limit and they may feel all sorts of pelvic pain as the growing fetus puts pressure on nerves, bones, and istanbul escorts organs.

They may have back pain, leg cramps, headaches, bloating, water retention, gas, nausea, and other aches and pains. Most of these can be treated, but some of them can’t. Unfortunately, many of these causes of pregnancy insomnia simply cannot be treated.

In this case, you will have to live with them. But there are a few that can be treated:

Nausea can be minimized by drinking ginger ale made with natural flavoring or drinking tea made from fresh ginger.
Certain aches and pains may be minimized by sleeping in a different position.
Itchy skin may be alleviated by wearing soft and breathable maternity clothes, applying a layer of calamine lotion to the affected area, or using aloe.

It is crucial to the health of the baby and the mother to get enough sleep during pregnancy. This is especially true in the final month of pregnancy because the stress of labor and delivery will take its toll on your body. Once the baby is born, it may be a long time before you can get enough rest, so it is vital to get as much as you can before the baby comes. If you have insomnia during pregnancy, do speak to your doctor about it.

Ways to Fight Insomnia During Pregnancy

For a pregnant woman, many things change as the pregnancy progresses. Every trimester has a particular pattern to it. Among the host of problems she faces is insomnia. Let us look at the following ways of improving sleep.

#First Trimester

Anxiety is one of the major troubles that afflict mothers-to-be. It could be that the pregnancy was unplanned. The worry here is about financial ability by the time the child is born. Such troubles, none any easier than the other, can cause the mother up a wall.

Anxiety does not help sleep. The way to deal with it is to take time and assume a meditative stance just before sleep.

The hormones are also on a rampage. The general effect of progesterone is soothing, and the pregnant woman feels an urge just to shut her eyes. This sends her to bed, thinking that it is sleep they need.

To stop this, take walks or find other small tasks to do. Simply avoid sleeping until it is time for bed.
Keep bedtime hours as a schedule you will not want to break. You could either use your pre-pregnancy sleep times or increase them slightly to allow for more rest.

Also, in the first trimester, there is frequent urination since the uterus pushes against the bladder. The many interruptions at night have an insomnia effect.

Make sure you do not take fluids very late at night or close to sleeping time. You can have your fill during the day.

#Second Trimester

Insomnia at this stage is reduced. A bit of the anxiety is still present but reduced. There is a noticeable well-being effect on the woman. However, just like the average person, certain measures will improve your sleep.

Do not eat just before sleep. Take your food earlier. Let digestion take place early, and you will have a restful sleep.
Wear lightweight cotton maternity nighties to stay comfortable sleeping at night.
Calm music will also make your sleep come easily and be sustained.
Any heavy work must be avoided just before sleep, and you must be bent on obtaining a night’s worth of sleep for you and your child.
Do not nap during the day.

#Third Trimester

The abdomen is sufficiently increased, and the pressure on the bladder is worse. You cannot sleep on your back or stomach. These causes of insomnia cannot really be cured, but you can do a few things to help.

Sleep on the side and rollover smoothly.
Massage your abdomen ever so gently and rub your back and sides to keep irritation on the skin at bay.
Alcohol and caffeinated drinks should be avoided.
Do not watch TV in bed.
Avoid spicy foods.

There is no cure for insomnia during pregnancy, and every effort you make is simply to make it tolerable and have a better sleep. After child-birth, you will find that everything instead goes back to normal.