Insomnia/Difficulty Sleeping

Sleep during pregnancy may feel just an arm’s reach away, but too far to touch. Insomnia during pregnancy is typical, but that does not mean that you are not frustrated with your new found inability to fall asleep or stay asleep.

Causes of Insomnia During Pregnancy
Like many other ills during pregnancy, hormones are partially to blame for insomnia during pregnancy, especially during the third trimester. However, hormones alone cause only some of the effect. Anxiety about being a new mom, leg cramps and increased urination are all common during pregnancy and can cause difficulty sleeping or insomnia.

Important Facts About Insomnia During Pregnancy
Most women suffer from some sort of insomnia during pregnancy. Back and tummy sleepers soon find it difficult to fall asleep as the uterus grows and prevents them from finding the comfortable sleeping position they are used to. Other women find that heartburn becomes worse at night when they are lying down to sleep and therefore have more difficultly falling asleep.

Treatments for Insomnia During Pregnancy
There are a number of treatments for insomnia during pregnancy, but first it is important to understand that lack of sleep will not hurt your baby. Letting go of the stress in life is often all it takes to return to a normal sleeping pattern.

Treatments for insomnia during pregnancy are often chosen based on the cause of the interrupted sleep. For instance, problems with heartburn and indigestion can be treated by eating more slowly, increasing water intake, and choosing foods that are easy to digest.

If leg pain, headaches, or back pain are the primary cause, over-the-counter acetaminophen and warm compresses can help ease the pain enough to induce sleep.

It is best to look for the root cause of sleep disturbances and work on those problems to counteract insomnia tendencies while pregnant.