According to a recent study published in the journal “The European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology”, 64% of pregnant women suffer from difficulties in sleep during pregnancy.
To help you understand more about the sleep during pregnancy, I prepared today's article on the subject. Are you interested in learning more? Then follow me right now!
What is sleep like during pregnancy?
Pregnant women are well aware that the nine months of pregnancy are probably the most tiring nine months of their lives.
For almost nine months, they accumulate stress, anxiety and fatigue. Bags under the eyes, dark circles, constant yawning, lack of energy and lack of strength, pregnant women tend to feel increasingly tired as the months go by.
There are several reasons for chronic fatigue in pregnant women. Some point to stress and worry about becoming a mother, while others point to the weight and pain of the baby.
But in addition to stress and pain, pregnant women often forget to mention sleep disorders. In fact, according to a recent Spanish study, it appears that the majority of pregnant women (64%) suffer from insomnia and restless nights during the last trimester of pregnancy.
What does this study show us?
This study, published in the journal “The European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology”, was conducted by researchers at the University of Granada, in Spain.
They followed almost 486 women from Granada, Seville, Jaen and Huelva, to analyze the quality of their sleep from the 14th week of pregnancy.
During these weeks of study, the researchers were very interested in night wakings, their duration and the time it took for the mother to fall asleep. According to the data collected by the researchers, it appears that:
- 44% of pregnant women suffer from insomnia during the 1st trimester
- 46% during the 2nd quarter
- 64% during the third quarter
How can we explain the troubled nights of future mothers?
Until the end of the ninth month of pregnancy, the expectant mother's sleep is far from uniform. Insomnia is especially caused by nighttime awakenings, which can be more or less restrictive, in pregnant women. The causes vary depending on the progress of the pregnancy.
During the first trimester, these awakenings are closely related to the need to urinate more frequently, which makes it difficult to get back to sleep. The result: the day is sometimes marked by fatigue, even drowsiness.
Second factor of sleep disturbances up to the third month of pregnancy: nausea. In fact, nighttime nausea often helps to interrupt sleep (deeper and more restorative).
Last but not least, anxiety and fear of the unknown, which are very noticeable in the first trimester, especially among first-time mothers.
What are the dangers of insomnia?
If researchers at the University of Granada decided to carry out this study, it is because it has become essential to alert the public health system that does not take the occurrence of disorders of the sleep during pregnancy in women.
It is also necessary to warn future mothers who think that it is normal to suffer from insomnia during pregnancy. Although it is known that pre-existing sleep problems are worsened and that new health concerns often arise during pregnancy, there is a tendency to assume that difficulties associated with falling asleep and maintaining restorative sleep are characteristic phenomena of pregnancy and that they should be supported.
This analysis of the current health system is even more worrying when we consider that sleep disorders strongly favor the onset of hypertension, depression, gestational diabetes and premature births in pregnant women.
The aim of this study is therefore to alert public opinion and the health system so that we can finally take care of pregnant women suffering from insomnia.
In fact, we forget it all too often, but sleep disorders should not be taken lightly, especially when you are pregnant.
