Pat Thomas suggests simple ways to beat insomnia during pregnancy

Pregnancy should be a happy time with all the anticipation of a new addition to the family, but nine months of antenatal visits, tests, never mind the physical problems expectant mums endure, bring a degree of anxiety and worry. So when you’re feeling stressed out and you’re growing and getting more uncomfortable by the day, it’s hardly surprising that many women suffer from insomnia.

Getting enough sleep is important

Sleep is the time when your body repairs, rejuvenates and restores itself. New research carried out in America and Germany, published December 2000 in Nature and Neuroscience, shows that adequate sleep is necessary to maintain your ability to take in new information and remember it. So, if you’re worried that you’re turning into a stereotypical muddle-headed pregnant woman, don’t just blame your hormones. It really could be you just need a bit of shuteye.

Sleep patterns change in pregnancy

The occasional sleepless night is not uncommon, especially late in pregnancy. But if insomnia becomes a regular feature of your pregnancy your health can begin to suffer, so it’s best to get to the bottom of what’s keeping you awake. Consider first whether the cause is emotional. During a busy workday you may not have time to think about impending parenthood and how it will affect your life. At night, when things are quiet, you may find that worries crowd your mind. You may feel depressed and anxious about things and all these feelings can interfere with your ability to drop off to sleep.

Even if insomnia is getting you down, try to avoid sleeping pills – they are addictive and confer no benefit to either you or your baby. Talking to someone – your partner, a self-help group, your midwife or a birth counsellor – is the best way to deal with the worries that keep you awake.

Consider some of these other helpful measures:

• If you feel physically uncomfortable and this is keeping you awake, try getting creative with the pillows on the bed. If necessary, invest in a few more so you can prop various parts of your body up at night. And as your pregnancy progresses you may feel hot most of the time so make sure the room you sleep in is well ventilated.
• Try aromatherapy. A well-known study of people suffering from insomnia, carried out in 1995, substituted sedatives with lavender oil to scent the room. Not only did the patients report getting more sleep, they also reported sleeping better. In this trial, lavender was shown to be as effective as drugs, but without any unpleasant side effects.
• Although you should not eat a main meal late in the evening, a light snack just before bedtime can help avoid night-time hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar). The brain needs a constant supply of glucose even at rest and a sharp drop in blood sugar signals the body to produce chemicals that stimulate sugar release. The resulting rise in blood sugar can actually wake you up.
• Finally, regular exercise – but not just before retiring – can improve the quality and duration of sleep. If you can fit swimming, walking, tennis, dancing or other activities into your regular weekly schedule you may find that sleep problems begin to disappear.