As a mother of two and currently pregnant with my third I know exactly how uncomfortable sleeping can become, especially in the later stages of pregnancy. During pregnancy your baby takes a lot from you, nutrients, oxygen and perhaps most demanding your comfort, with a growing baby in your abdomen your breathing, organs and back all take a lot of strain resulting in the familiar aches and pains which can last all day. What makes it worse is the fact that you can’t even escape it at bed time either, your body continues to ache and your regular sleeping position can also make things worse.
Throughout my pregnancies I’ve learned a lot about managing the pain and discomfort that come as part of the pregnancy package, and today I’m going to share a few of my secrets with you. I’ll admit that these aren’t going to cure the aches and pains completely, but they will definitely help alleviate some of the discomfort and help you sleep much better!
Firstly it’s a good idea to consider you sleeping position, this is far more important than you’ve probably thought about, even when you aren’t pregnant your sleeping position can impact your health and wellbeing. However when you are pregnant it’s even more important that you think about not only your own body but your baby too, as the truth is some sleeping positions should be totally avoided throughout pregnancy.
So what’s the best sleeping position?
Well, you’re more than likely to know by now that during pregnancy your back, spine, hips are all under additional pressure and strain, in addition to that your babies comfort needs to be thought about too. Therefore sleeping on your stomach is a big no, not only will this be awful for your baby, as you’ll obviously be applying unnecessary stress to your stomach, but places a lot of strain on your already strained back. This can lead to bad posture, pain and terrible aches.
In the video above, the woman takes you through the best way to sleep during pregnancy, which is your side. Sleeping on your side is the best position full stop, even when not pregnant you should try to maintain this to prevent a lot of issues. Sleeping on your side is great because it improves circulation and prevent back aches and pains as it elongates your spine preventing trapped nerves and other nastiness.
More over sleeping on your side during pregnancy is better for your baby and for your own peace of mind, as you don’t want to be adding pressure to your stomach during the night. So knowing your not is definitely a good thing.