Should i take naps during pregnancy

Find a few stress-busting techniques that work for you, and reach out for help from your support system or from a professional if you feel overwhelmed. The second trimester usually brings the chance to catch up on some much-needed sleep before the final stretch.

Danielle writes in-depth articles about sleep solutions and holds a psychology degree from the University of British Columbia. Sleep deprivation and postpartum depression often go hand-in-hand. Learn how they influence each other and how to recognize the symptoms…. Are pregnancy dreams keeping you up?

Learn about why some women experience more vivid dreams during pregnancy, and what it…. For many women, sleep can be evasive during pregnancy.

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Our editors and medical experts rigorously evaluate every article and guide to ensure the information is factual, up-to-date, and free of bias. Updated September 11, Written by Danielle Pacheco. Medically Reviewed by Ealena Callendar. Why Sleep Is Important During Your First Trimester Sleep during the first trimester is more important than most of us realize, but for now those sleepless nights will most likely affect you more than the baby.

How to Sleep Better During Your First Trimester The first trimester of pregnancy can be difficult, but practicing good sleep habits may help you sleep more soundly and increase your total sleep time. Sleeping Products to Help With First Trimester Sleep Prenatal vitamins are very important to ensure the fetus gets enough nutrition to develop properly.

Sign up below for your free gift. Your privacy is important to us. Was this article helpful? Yes No. Ku, C. Serum progesterone distribution in normal pregnancies compared to pregnancies complicated by threatened miscarriage from 5 to 13 weeks gestation: a prospective cohort study. BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 18 1 , Won C. Martin-Fairey, C. Journal of biological rhythms, 34 3 , — Baumgartel, K. Psychometric evaluation of the Epworth sleepiness scale in an obstetric population.

Sleep medicine, 14 1 , — Lee, K. Parity and sleep patterns during and after pregnancy. Obstetrics and gynecology, 95 1 , 14— Neau, J. Sleep and vigilance disorders in pregnancy. European neurology, 62 1 , 23— Okun, M. Bai, G. PloS one, 11 11 , e Oyiengo, D. Sleep disorders in pregnancy. Clinics in chest medicine, 35 3 , — Gartland, D. Women's health in early pregnancy: findings from an Australian nulliparous cohort study.

Nazik, E. Incidence of pregnancy-related discomforts and management approaches to relieve them among pregnant women. Journal of clinical nursing, 23 , — Bradley, C. Many women experience insomnia during the first and last trimester of pregnancy. Here are eight solutions that will help you sleep better. Although sleeping on your back while pregnant is generally safe, the position can feel uncomfortable and may cause avoidable health problems. Many women experience anxiety during pregnancy.

Chamomile is a type of herbal tea. You might like to enjoy a soothing cup of chamomile tea on…. A new study finds that epidurals do not affect child development in their later years. A fetal arrhythmia is an irregular heart rate — too fast, too slow, or otherwise outside the norm. It's often benign. Postpartum diarrhea after a C-section is normal. Sharing our experiences of pregnancy and infant loss can help us heal. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Medically reviewed by Carolyn Kay, M.

What is meant by excessive sleeping during pregnancy? Are there risks to excessive sleeping during pregnancy? Are there benefits to sleep during pregnancy? What problems can affect sleep during pregnancy or cause excessive sleeping?

What can you do to improve sleep during pregnancy? Researchers are still trying to figure out the exact reasons why pregnancy causes a woman to feel so exhausted, Lee said. But to some extent, pregnancy-related fatigue is hormonal, she said. In the early phases of pregnancy, progesterone levels start to increase. Besides the influence of hormones, some of the sleepiness that women feel early in pregnancy could also be physiological as the uterus gets bigger and the fetus grows, coupled with pregnancy-related weight gain and fluid accumulation in the body, Lee said.

These changes mean the body is working harder as the placenta forms to nourish the developing fetus, the blood supply increases and the heart beats faster. And emotional factors can also play a role. The excitement and anticipation of having a baby as well as the fears of impending motherhood and the anxiety about labor and delivery can all be stressful and make a woman feel more tired than usual.

In the early months of pregnancy, rising progesterone levels may not only make a woman feel drowsy, but they may also be partly to blame for the frequent need to pee, which can also disrupt sleep and worsen sleepiness. During the first trimester, the hormones leading to the bladder get sluggish, which increases a woman's urine production.

This can cause her to wake up and need to go to the bathroom more frequently at night, Lee explained. To reduce their nightly bathroom visits, women who are expecting should not cut back on drinking plenty of fluids during the day because water and other liquids are important to help prevent constipation and excessive swelling, two common pregnancy discomforts.

But they might cut back on fluids in the evenings. During those nightly bathroom trips, women should rely on a nightlight rather than turning on a bright bathroom light, which could make it harder to fall back to sleep. Another factor that can rob a woman of the shuteye she needs is the nausea known as morning sickness , which can happen any time of the day or night. To relieve the queasiness, some women eat crackers or dry cereal before getting out of bed in the morning. A woman's breasts may also feel more sore and tender during pregnancy, making it challenging or uncomfortable to sleep on her stomach, if that's her preferred position.

Women might also feel warm or hot when they sleep during pregnancy because of an increased metabolic rate, Lee said. A fan is often nice to keep a woman cooler, she said, plus it has the added benefit of blocking out noise inside and outside the bedroom, including a snoring bed partner.