Pregnancy Insomnia

Insomnia is never a good thing, but when a woman is in the early stages of pregnancy, insomnia can make for long nights and tired days. In a recent poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), 78 percent of women reported more disturbed sleep during pregnancy than at other times. Sleep-related problems also became more prevalent as the women’s pregnancies progressed. Sleep problems commonly develop early on but usually aren’t too bad and abate as the pregnancy progresses. Later, other issues can cause insomnia to reoccur.

Pregnancy can bring a whole host of complications, including insomnia. It is important that you can deal with it appropriately to prevent and harm to your baby.

Early Insomnia
In the first trimester, insomnia is relatively common and is caused by the hormonal changes of pregnancy. Hence, she may not be able to fall asleep that night, which then just sets in place a vicious cycle of exhaustion. To prevent this from occurring, avoid long naps during the day. Try taking a walk or finding some other activity instead of sleeping. Develop a consistent sleep schedule and try to get the same amount of sleep every night.

In addition, during the first trimester, there may even be more specific reasons for anxiety. Some examples include financial worries if the pregnancy was unplanned. For this type of emotion-related insomnia, try practicing some relaxation techniques, or find someone whom you can trust to talk to about your problems. Bottling up your feelings only worsens the condition. The other common reason for insomnia is sleep disturbances due to having to urinate frequently. At this point in the pregnancy, the uterus is still fairly small and has not yet pushed up out of the pelvis. Thus, it pushes against the bladder and can cause frequent urination. However, this is only short term as during the second trimester, the uterus will pop out of the pelvis and the pressure on your bladder will be relieved.

Later Insomnia
In the second trimester, sleep problems generally disappear for the time being. However, in the third trimester, the bladder may once again feel the pressure of the enlarged  uterus and the expectant mother might find herself going to the toilet frequently at night. Sleep disturbances are common for other reasons. It is also not as easy to roll over as before due to an enlarged belly, and the mother might experience heartburn more often.

Another common problem is trouble getting comfortable. Some people only get their best sleep in certain positions, so back sleepers or stomach sleepers have to adjust to sleeping on their sides.

At this point in the pregnancy, there’s not a lot that can be done about some of the things causing insomnia. You can take some medication for your heartburn. To cope with your insomnia which is undoubtedly the most important aspect given the very little sleep you are getting by on, exercise may also help with insomnia. Check out the Sleep – Do’s and Don’ts for a list of tips you can try tonight for better sleep.