Trouble Sleeping in Pregnancy?
If you’re struggling to sleep well during your pregnancy, you’re not alone. For many women, sleep can be elusive during pregnancy (don’t we know it!). Physical discomfort, hormonal changes, and the mix of excitement and anxiety about becoming a new mother contribute to various sleep issues. In fact, the National Sleep Foundation's 1998 Women and Sleep poll found that 78% of women reported more disturbed sleep during pregnancy than at any other time of their lives!
Sleep is crucial to our health and wellbeing. We all hear it again and again but sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of why we should prioritise it. In this blog we’ll explore common sleep problems for pregnant women and tips for improving your sleep quality.
Why Does Sleep Change During Pregnancy?
Several factors can lead to insomnia during pregnancy. Starting in the first trimester, fluctuating hormone levels can cause discomfort and other issues that make it difficult to both fall asleep and stay asleep. Common challenges include:
Nausea
Vomiting
Breast tenderness
Higher body temperature
Frequent nighttime wees
Leg cramps
Shortness of breath
Increased heart rate
As your pregnancy progresses, you may experience back pain and find it hard to get comfortable, especially when your baby kicks you at night. Anxiety about labour, motherhood, and balancing responsibilities can also keep your mind racing when you want it to be resting. In the third trimester, many women report vivid, sometimes unsettling dreams that further disrupt sleep.
While these experiences are all common, they can also be indicative of a sleep disorder, so it’s always a good idea to discuss poor sleep with your GP.
Why Is Sleep So Important During Pregnancy?
Quality sleep during pregnancy is essential for both mother and baby. For mothers, insufficient sleep can lead to fatigue and daytime drowsiness, impacting memory, learning, appetite, mood, and decision-making—all of which are important when preparing to welcome a newborn.
Chronic sleep deprivation can weaken the immune system, which may contribute to the adverse effects of poor sleep on maternal and fetal health. Additionally, since sleep plays a role in regulating blood sugar, inadequate sleep during pregnancy has been linked to gestational diabetes.
While more research is needed to account for various factors, chronic poor sleep has been identified as a potential risk factor for preterm birth, low birth weight, painful labour, ceasarean delivery, high blood pressure, preeclampsia and postpartum depression.
So it’s worth looking at your sleep and seeing if there is something you can improve.
Sleep Hygiene for Pregnancy
Practicing good sleep hygiene is essential during pregnancy. Alongside sleep aids like pregnancy pillows and eye masks, consider the following habits to help reduce insomnia and enhance sleep quality:
Think about your bedroom set-up: Ideally, get rid of all that stuff that will distract you, make sure that your bedroom is quiet, dark and cool (less than 16 degrees) and limit bed use to sleeping and intimacy.
Prioritise Sleep: Establish a consistent bedtime.
Engage in Calming Activities Before Bed: In the morning we want cortisol, our ‘get up and go’ hormone to increase and melatonin, our sleep hormone, to reduce. Conversely, in the evening, we want cortisol to reduce to allow melatonin production to increase. Stress and anxiety reduce the quality of sleep, so at the end of the day you’ve got to find ways of de-stressing. Gentle yoga, diaphragmatic breathing or gentle stretching for 20-30 minutes before bed in a quiet room with dim lights can be a very effective tool for reducing stress.
Reduce Light Pollution: Dim the lights from 7pm to allow melatonin to rise. Put the screens away a couple of hours before bed and try not to jump back on in the evening to check work emails. If you do need to look at a screen in the evening then consider wearing blue light glasses as evening exposure to blue light sends a ”rise and shine” message to the brain and reduces melatonin production.
Get Morning Light: Light in the eyes in the morning has the single biggest influence on re-setting the circadian clock. Go for a 20 minute walk in the morning to set yourself up for a better sleep that night.
Try not to skip meals during the day: This plays havoc with your blood glucose levels and can leave you fatigued but with elevated cortisol levels in the evening.
Use a Nightlight: This makes it easier to return to sleep after nighttime bathroom trips.
Mind Your Dinner: Try to eat a smaller lighter meal in the evening. Eat more protein at breakfast and lunch and less at dinner. Avoid spicy foods, processed foods and heavy meals close to bedtime to minimize the risk of heartburn.
Avoid Processed Foods in the Evening: These foods will spike your blood sugar, in turn spiking insulin. Elevated insulin levels reduces your ability to produce melatonin.
Stay Active: Regular exercise earlier in the day can promote better sleep.
Hydrate Wisely: Drink plenty of water throughout the day, but reduce liquid intake for 3-4 hours before bed to lessen nighttime bathroom visits.
Get Up if You Can't Sleep: If you can’t fall asleep, get out of bed and engage in a quiet activity (no screens) until you feel sleepy.
Manage Stress: Some stress just can’t be avoided such as going to work, getting stuck in traffic or managing all the complexities of family and home. But it’s about seeing what you can do. Don’t skip meals, don’t over caffeinate, eat a rainbow of foods and find a way to reduce some of the stress of the modern world. This may be journalling, talking to your partner or friends, practicing mindfulness, yoga, walking outside, breathing. Just whatever helps you let go of some of it.
By incorporating some of these strategies you can improve your sleep quality and better navigate the challenges of pregnancy.
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