Many pregnant women have a doubt about their sleep patterns and correct sleep posture during pregnancy. Most pregnant women, especially first-time pregnant women, have a common question about sleep patterns. Can I sleep in the daytime or should it be only the night’s sleep? What is the correct position of sleep during pregnancy? Continue reading till the end to learn about the common concern about sleep and sleep posture during pregnancy and the measures to be taken.
Sleep Posture During Pregnancy
Among pregnant women, one of the common questions is about sleep and the sleep posture that one should have during pregnancy. It doesn’t really matter at the beginning of your pregnancy. So your sleep posture does not matter. What is the logic behind the sleep posture that we recommend?
The first thing is that as the pregnancy advances the uterus compresses the main blood vessels and so the blood flow to the uterus itself kind of can get impeded if you are sleeping flat on your back.
Sleep Posture During Pregnancy
In the second half of the pregnancy, the preferred position would be to sleep on the sides more on the left side as it is recommended in books and all that. That’s because when you turn to your side, the uterus, weight of the uterus shifts to one side and the blood flow are not obstructed. So it is more recommended to people who have a concern like you who have been told that the baby which is growing inside of her is having some kind of a growth restriction. IUGR, as we say in our thing, is an intrauterine growth restriction. For such patients, we tell them to consciously sleep on the left lateral side on the left side.
Disturbed Sleep During Pregnancy
At the beginning of your pregnancy, there are a lot of things that can lead to disturbed sleep. The first and foremost thing is the anxiety itself. The anxiety of having gotten pregnant and treading into the unknown kind of territory.
The second thing would be that your washroom very often in the night is very very common just when your pregnancy starts. So naturally, you will have disturbed sleep. But trust me the position at this point does not really matter.
Are there any things that we can do for this kind of disturbed sleep that we come across?
Disturbed sleep is a very very common complaint. It is not because of pregnancy per see. Because the uterus is enlarging we do not really find a comfortable position as you sleep alone or when you turn the ligaments kind of pull and there may be pain on one side. So the thing that can improve all this is you should consciously avoid drinking too many fluids from evening onwards so that you do not get up to pass urine in the night. That’s the first thing.
The second thing would be to restrict your salt intake.
The third thing would be to exercise. When you exercise you kind of tire yourself and all you can see is the bed in front of you. So you would want to go ahead and sleep.
In pregnancy, we must understand that we really do not want to prescribe any medicines just for you to sleep, a sedative or a tranquillizer because it eventually affects your baby. These kinds of measures will actually help you.
Avoid any kind of daytime sleep. If you really feel like it after your lunch, you can catch on a small nap and come back. After your exercise, have a hot water shower. It need not be very hot, lukewarmish kind and then relax at home. Put on some relaxing music. Keep your gadgets away, keep your phones and tabs away. Do not watch something like a crime story or something there’s something that kind of calms your nerves. There is a lot of relaxation music and there are a lot of relaxation techniques. Do not get stressed out. All this itself will lead to good sleep. Try to sleep more on your sides if the doctor especially told you only then the left lateral side.
When you are really facing this kind of sleep disturbance then towards the very end of your pregnancy it is sometimes you know advised that you sleep on a recliner wherein the weight of the uterus is not entirely on your chest. You feel that you’ve slept much better on those days also the same thing can be simulated on your back if you use very high pillows also as much as you can comfortably lie on. So your head is propped up and the weight of the uterus is not really falling on your chest.
Your sleeping posture only matters beyond the 24th week of pregnancy or the latter half.
Final Thoughts
Hope that the above information cleared your doubts about sleep and sleep posture during pregnancy. You should consult your doctor regularly for checkups and follow their advice. Remember, good sleep and good health of the mother are important for a healthy baby.
Recommended for further reading
- Common Pregnancy Questions And Expert Answers
- Expert Healthy Pregnancy Lifestyle Tips
- Stages Of Pregnancy – What To Expect During Pregnancy?
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References & Credits: Dr Bhawana Mishra, Aster RV Hospital in JP Nagar
Mathukutty P. V. is the founder of Simply Life Tips. He is a Blogger, Content Writer, Influencer, and YouTuber. He is passionate about learning new skills. He is the Director of PokketCFO.
He lives with the notion of “SIMPLE LIVING, CREATIVE THINKING”. He Believes – “Sharing is caring.” and “Learning never ends.”
