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 with sleep during pregnancy.
To help you understand more about the sleep during pregnancy, I prepared today's article on the subject. Interested in finding out more? So follow me 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, anguish and fatigue. Bags under the eyes, dark circles, constant yawning, lack of energy and lack of strength, pregnant women often feel increasingly tired as the months go by.
There are several reasons for this chronic fatigue in pregnant women. Some highlight stress and worry about the idea of being a mother, others point to the baby's weight and pain.
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 most 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 their sleep quality from the 14th week of pregnancy.
During these weeks of study, researchers were very interested in nighttime awakenings, their duration, and the time it took for the mother to fall asleep. According to the data collected by researchers, it appears that:
- 44% of pregnant women suffer from insomnia during the 1st trimester
- 46% during the 2nd trimester
- 64% during the third trimester
How to explain the disturbed 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, in pregnant women, caused by nighttime awakenings, more or less restrictive. Its causes vary according to the progress of the pregnancy.
During the first trimester, these awakenings are closely related to the desire to urinate more frequently, which makes it difficult to return to sleep. Result: the day is sometimes marked by fatigue, even drowsiness.
Second factor of sleep disturbances until the third month of pregnancy: nausea. In fact, nighttime nausea often helps disrupt (deeper, more restorative) sleep.
Last but not least, anxiety and fear of the unknown, 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 it does not take the occurrence of disorders of the body seriously. 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 worsening and that new health concerns frequently 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 healthcare system is more worrying when we consider that sleep disorders strongly favor the appearance of hypertension, depression, gestational diabetes and premature births in pregnant women.
The aim of this study is therefore to alert public opinion and the healthcare system so that we can finally care for pregnant women suffering from insomnia.
In fact, we forget it very often, but sleep disorders should not be taken lightly, especially when you are pregnant.
