Being pregnant and conceiving a baby comes with jubilation for most women. However, the 9-months of pregnancy are not as easy as you might think, and it comes with many challenges, one of them being not getting enough sleep.
In fact, according to the research, over 50% of pregnant women experience poor sleep. The lack of sleep is due to nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, frequent nightmare urination, leg cramps, increased heart rate, increased body temperature, etc.
Getting a good sleep while pregnant can be difficult, but it is necessary for a healthy pregnancy. It can help refresh your strained blood vessels, stabilize your blood sugar level, and strengthen your immune system. For these reasons, the doctor’s advice is that you should have not less than seven hours of “quality” sleep every night.
Not having enough sleep can pose significant consequences for pregnant women, and they should be more concerned about their sleeping habits to reduce these consequences. Below are some of the reasons pregnant women should have enough sleep.
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Insufficient sleep causes longer delivery.
If there is something painful that takes long, then it’s giving birth, especially for first-time mothers. The first-time moms who get enough sleep take eight hours in labour and another two hours pushing the baby. No, imagine those who don’t get enough sleep.
Women who don’t get quality night sleep of fewer than six hours are likely to experience more prolonged labour than those getting quality night sleep-seven hours or more. And, women who lack good sleep are likely to deliver through caesarean.
In short, for faster delivery, try to get enough sleep each night.
Lack of enough sleep cause depression
Sleep and depression always intertwine. Lack of sleep can cause depression, and on the other hand, depression leads to sleeping problems. For pregnant women, depression has adverse effects and can be harmful, and this is because it affects the level of cytokines. Cytokines communicate with immune cells, signalling them if there is any danger.
Too many cytokines in the body can destroy body cells and tissues in pregnant women, making them vulnerable to common STDs like hepatitis, herpes, syphilis, and other STDs.
People who undergo depression have many cytokines in their bodies, making them sickly.
Sleeping disorders affect the development of a fetus.
Insufficient sleep in pregnant mothers compromises the blood flow to the placenta. When there is a small amount of oxygen in the mother’s blood, the growth of hormones needed by the fetus may reduce, leading to complications.
Insufficient sleep contributes to diabetes.
Insufficient sleep in pregnant women can lead to a rise in blood sugar levels, leading to a condition known as gestational diabetes. You can experience gestational diabetes in your second or third trimester.
The excess sugar can activate your baby’s pancreas to produce more insulin that can change your baby’s birth weight. Having a baby with a larger birth weight can make the delivery more difficult.
Lack of sleep leads to premature birth.
Insufficient sleep causes a sleep disorder known as sleep apnea. Asleep apnea causes rapid starts and stops of breathing, leading to increased blood pressure.
A pregnant woman with high blood pressure is likely to have a premature birth. A child born prematurely may have complications because major organs of their bodies do not develop fully. They may require to be put on Cardiopulmonary resuscitation as a measure to help them overcome the complications.
As much as most young women are delighted to have a baby, pregnancy comes with sleeping problems that can cause complications for them and the unborn baby. The good thing is that there are solutions to these problems.
Not having enough sleep has many consequences for pregnant women. Try having enough sleep to avoid the above consequences.
