Sleep in Pregnancy
Sleeping in Pregnancy can be really really tricky. For lots of reasons:
In the early stages of pregnancy worry and anxiety may have you over thinking every little detail of how your pregnancy will progress. Your mind exploring all of the “what if’s” You may also wake feeling sick or being sick which again prevents you from getting that much needed rest when you physcially and mentally feel SO tired.
In the second and third trimester you may be finding it hard to sleep due to physically being uncomfortable. Baby bump preventing your usual comfy place. Breasts feeling so sore that any compression wakes you up. And lets not forget all of the hormones that are currently working away to help your baby to grow in its nice cosy house! Oh and of course the wriggles or BIG kicks that come towards the end of pregnancy.
I have found sleep challenging in both pregnancies so here are few things that could help.
Practicing generally good sleep hygiene BEFORE getting pregnant will help you.
Things like going to bed at a similar time and waking up at a similar time (for those of you with small people already this may be a cert for you already 0 lie in’s and early bed times go hand in hand with little people!)
No phones or TV just before bed instead trying to read with a soft light or even listening to guided meditations can help. I currently listen to hypnobirthing relaxations or my regular guided relaxations to aid sleep.
If you feel able or have the time practicing a restorative yoga practice before bed is without doubt one of the most effective ways to aid sleep. If you think you do not have time just be concious you can loose 15 mins quite easily scrolling on your phone at night but could also practice around 4 poses with some breath work that might just send you drifting off into a better quality sleep.
Getting fresh air and SOME movement during the day is also helpful, and I highlight SOME if you are already shattered please do not try to hit the gym or do a challenging flow. I am talking a 15 minuet amble outdoors.
Diet too, thinking about your caffeine intake and the time of consumption it may effect your ability to sleep.
When it comes to positions the guidance in the UK is that you avoid falling asleep on your back post 28 weeks. This is one of the biggest worries that expectant mothers voice in my pregnancy yoga classes when they accidentally wake up on their backs. See link at the bottom for NHS information.
The research that has been sited via the NHS page on this topic suggests that it is the position that you fall asleep in that you hold for the longest period of time. If you fall asleep on your side and wake up on your back you won’t necessarily have been lying on your back for hours on end. The NHS site quotes that falling asleep on your back “MAY” reduce the flow of oxygen to baby and cause subsequent still birth BUT having read many different articles and research papers around sleeping positions during pregnancy and the connection of chosen position to still birth there is still a huge gap in research here that needs to be explored.
You can of course use a pregnancy pillow to support your bump and prevent you from rolling over. There are SO many different sleep pillows and SO many different pricing points too! You could simply use normal pillows behind you and in front of you to support your bump OR you could invest. Many pregnancy pillows can the double up to help you with feeding once baby has arrived too. My pregnancy pillow is a dreamgenii (link below) and it can be used in multiple ways to support sleep positions. I didn’t use it much to help with breast feeding as I found good old father pillows wedged in under elbows etc were better for me. There are however hundrends more out there!
Just one final thing when it comes to sleep… If you are very much awake with thoughts racing through your mind (none of which you can do anything about in the dead of night) then its time to actively DO something to help soothe the mind. For me that involves getting up (usually having something to eat) reading a fiction book and then heading back up to bed to listen to a guided meditation perhaps using my lavendar sleep spray on my pillow. Your brain can easily become fixated on perceived problems and turning them over and over makes them into even bigger problems! It is often best to try something that resets the mind breathing slowly and deeply can support this endeavour and I have a few different techniques for you to try over in my Move to Birth offer. You can also check out my blog around diaphramatic breathing and belly breathing which may help to shed some light on WHY these techniques can be so effective at calming mind and body.
Above all else if you have not managed to have a good nights sleep be kind to yourself. You will be triggered easily when tired your emotional state will fluctuate. You may be less patient, you will without a doubt be more hungry and less keen to move. So approaching your day with kindness to yourself above all else is key to getting through! One hour at a time. Lots of mama love you have so got this!
C
https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/related-conditions/common-symptoms/tiredness
https://www.dreamgenii.com/
