A good quality of sleep is important to ensure the growth of the fetus. However, many pregnant mothers suffer from insomnia and worry about it at one time or another. According to statistics, more than 80% of pregnant mothers suffer from insomnia during pregnancy. It is really exciting to listen to the even whistling of people around you late at night, but you are tossing and turning without sleep!
So, what are the specific manifestations of insomnia?
1, difficulty falling asleep, more than 30 minutes can not fall asleep.
2.Inability to fall asleep and reduced sleep time.
3, early awakening, unable to fall asleep again after waking up.
4, easy to wake up after falling asleep (>2 times/night, >5 minutes/time, waking up >40 minutes).
5.Symptoms of lack of sleep during the day: the brain is chaotic after waking up in the morning, no sense of clarity, unable to regain energy level, dizziness, fatigue, weakness or drowsiness during the day.
In order to better determine the severity of our insomnia, the following classifies insomnia.
1.Mild insomnia: Occasional occurrence with little impact on the quality of life.
2, moderate insomnia: occurring every night, moderately affecting the quality of life, accompanied by certain symptoms (irritability, anxiety, fatigue, etc.)
3.Severe insomnia: occurs every night, moderately or severely affects quality of life, with prominent clinical symptoms (irritability, anxiety, fatigue, etc.).
Note: more than 3 times a week, the situation lasts for more than 1 month must be taken seriously!
Many pregnant mothers are concerned about how insomnia will actually affect our lives and our fetal babies, summarized as follows.
The occasional occurrence of insomnia generally does not have any effect. If you can’t sleep well for a week or two, various physical discomforts will follow. For example, daytime fatigue, lack of energy, concentration, poor work efficiency, easy to lose temper, sometimes sleepy, but at night will be worried about not being able to sleep, this worry and fear will often aggravate insomnia.
In the long run, it will also lead to the destruction of the immune system function and the occurrence of anxiety and depression. When the normal work of the pregnant mother’s nervous, digestive and immune systems is affected, the health of the fetal baby will naturally be affected as well.
Therefore, it is important to take insomnia seriously. We need to know: insomnia is not a serious disease, but it is vital for health!
What are all the common causes of insomnia for pregnant mothers?
1. Physiological factors.
With the week of pregnancy the uterus will continue to increase, up against the lungs, increasing the difficulty of whistling, resulting in pregnant mothers sleep depth is reduced, easy to wake up; downward pressure on the bladder, so that its capacity is reduced, resulting in increased night urination, the sleep process is constantly interrupted. In addition, there is also pain caused by muscle strain in the lower back, etc. can also affect sleep.
2. Psychological factors.
Pregnant mothers may experience various psychological stresses and strains in their lives. For example, family relationship, the gender and health condition of the fetal baby, the change of body size, the psychological preparation for the upcoming delivery, etc. And after insomnia occurs, the fear of insomnia and excessive worry about the consequences caused by insomnia will further aggravate the insomnia condition. Generally speaking, anxiety and difficulty in falling asleep, depression and early awakening are significantly correlated, and insomnia and anxiety and depression are mutually causal.
3. Bad habits.
If pregnant mothers eat a lot or drink stimulating drinks, such as tea, coffee and cocoa, especially before bedtime, it will excite our central nervous system and lead to the occurrence of insomnia.
4. Change of sleep rhythm.
There are some pregnant mothers who live without a fixed biological clock and sleep one day early and one day late, this situation also has a great impact on sleep.
When pregnant mothers have sleep disorders, the first thing to do is to analyze and investigate the factors that cause insomnia (you can check yourself first, if you have difficulties, seek help from your doctor), and the treatment for insomnia needs to intervene against the source that causes insomnia. There is one thing that pregnant mothers must know: besides simple insomnia, insomnia is also one of the main manifestations of anxiety and depression. Almost all patients with anxiety and depression have insomnia. But it is up to the psychologist to give us help for psychological problems such as anxiety and depression.
For most of the simple insomnia, we can get improvement by our own efforts, the specific suggestions are as follows.
1.Regular work and rest, no matter when you go to sleep the night before, you should get up on time the next day, even on holidays, you should stick to a fixed bed and wake up time.
2, the daily rule of exercise helps sleep, but do not do intense exercise after the evening, especially in the 2 hours before bedtime, otherwise it will affect sleep (except for bedtime yoga).
3.Cancel naps, or napping time of up to 15-20 minutes.
4, do not drink coffee and tea after the evening. During the day should also try to avoid the use of caffeine-containing drinks to refresh.
5, do not eat and drink before going to bed, but 3 hours before going to bed consume a small amount of bread, cookies, dairy products can play a very good effect of preventing insomnia.
6, late pregnancy is a high incidence of insomnia, the pelvic uterus pressure on the bladder, the mother-to-be will be frequent night, 3 hours before bedtime is best to drink less water.
7.Take a hot bath or soak your feet before going to bed.
8.Avoid stimulation before going to sleep, you can listen to some soothing music to relax, or do some easy reading.
9, to maintain a comfortable sleep environment, quiet bedroom, light and temperature appropriate, clean bed, moderate softness.
10, the bed is used to rest and relax, do not read in bed, watch TV or play cell phones.
11, late pregnancy, the uterus is increasing, sleeping on the left side is preferred, the right side of the bed is also OK, you can use pillows and other things to assist pregnant mothers have a comfortable sleeping position.
12.If you still can’t sleep after 20 minutes of going to bed, you can get up and do something monotonous and tasteless, and then go to bed when you feel like sleeping.
13.Don’t look at the clock too often when you can’t sleep, and don’t be upset or frustrated, you should relax and be sure you will fall asleep at last.
If you can’t improve after all your efforts, we should also seek the help of a sleep doctor if necessary and receive professional treatment in time. Doctors can help pregnant mothers with sleep disorders to understand the basics of sleep, to reduce unnecessary anxiety and to improve sleeping difficulties. In addition, doctors have behavioral treatments such as sleep restriction, stimulation control and relaxation training.
Medications are one of the main treatments for insomnia, and they are usually fast-acting and effective. However, pregnant mothers need to be careful with medication. Even if insomnia is very serious, do not take medication on your own, but always use it under the guidance of your doctor.
We are all born to eat and sleep, no one needs to be taught. But the long road of life, habits and various aspects of stress constantly have an impact on our diet, sleep and so on. If we face it and deal with it, there is nothing difficult in the world, who makes us pregnant mothers!