Pregnancy Sleep Tips and Some research results

Pregnancy Sleep Tips:

• Regular exercise, but not close to bed time, will help you sleep and help with energy levels.
• Avoid meals close to bed, particularly if heartburn is a problem for you.
• Pillows! Use them where ever you need them: between your knees for aching hips, under your belly for support, behind your back, and under your head.
• Nap when you can, though this can be difficult with other children around. I learned to nap on the couch while my daughter played with her blocks quietly. Enlist the help of family if needed.
• Sleep in or head to bed early.
• Try relaxation before bed. A warm bath or a warm glass of milk.
• If you wake up in the middle of the night or have trouble falling asleep don't just lie there.
• Get up for a bit and read or do something not too stimulating.
• If leg cramps wake you up at night try stretching prior to going to bed to avoid them.
• Doing pelvic tilts before laying down will allow you a few extra minutes between bathroom breaks at night.

First Trimester

At this point your mind and your body can play a tug of war with your sleep. Your body may be forcing you into naps that you aren't used to or don't want. On the other hand your mind may be whirring at top speed and keeping you awake, or even more likely refusing to let you fall asleep after one of your nightly trips to the bathroom.

 

Second Trimester

This trimester might be your best chance for sleep! Your body isn't aching too badly yet and your mind has settled down as the pregnancy is accepted.

 

Three Trimester

Many people will tell you that the lack of sleep in the third trimester is merely a way to prepare for some of the endless nights that lie ahead. Dealing with the aches and pains, your bladder constantly calling and the thoughts that begin to invade your mind about parenting and labor and birth can wreck your sleeping pattern. Sometimes women will also begin snoring during the last trimester. This is normal and will usually go away after the birth.

Finding a comfortable position is probably a big challenge right now. Back and belly sleepers are having a particularly hard time dealing with life at night. While there are commercial products available to aid you in sleeping on your belly, I've not talked to anyone who has used one. There are wedges that are sold as special pillows. Although the best thing I bought was a body length pillow, which you can find at nearly any department or discount department store.

 

The main findings of the research were:

• Compared to sleeping on the left side, sleeping on the right side was not significantly associated with increased risk of stillbirth.
• Compared to sleeping on the left side, sleeping on the back and in other positions was associated with an increased risk (2.54 and 2.32 times more likely to have a stillbirth respectively).
• Women who got up to go to the toilet once or not at all during the last night of pregnancy were 2.42 times more likely to experience stillbirth as those who got up more.
• Women who reported regularly sleeping during the day in the last month of pregnancy were 2.04 times more likely to experience stillbirth as those who didn't.
• Duration of sleep at night during the last night of pregnancy had no significant effect on risk.
• There was no observed association between snoring and risk of stillbirth.
  The researchers point out that the absolute risk of late-term stillbirth in high-income countries is low (3.09 per 1,000 births in the study population), and non-left-side sleeping only slightly increased this risk (to approximately 3.93 per 1,000 births).