Sleep And Pregnancy Essay

Sleep and pregnancy
One of the reasons for fatigue and sleep problems during pregnancy are changing hormone levels
Ex: rising progesterone levels may partly explain excessive daytime sleepiness especially in the first trimester
Inhibitory effect on muscles, which may result in snoring Obese women increase the risk of developing sleep apnea and may be partly responsible for the frequent trips to the bathroom during the night
Insomnia due to emotions and anxiety about labor and delivery, balancing motherhood and work or their changing relationship with their partner
Very important for pregnant women to prioritize sleep and find effective strategies for managing their sleep problems as early as possible in their pregnancy

Several sleep disorders can be caused or made worse by pregnancy
26% reported restless legs syndrome heartburngastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) 30-50% pregenant women experience GERD almost constantly during pregnancy

sleep apnea is associated with more daytime sleepiness compared to women who do not have sleep apnea during pregnancy

poor sleep can an effect on labor an delivery women who slept fewer than 6 hours per night had longer labors and were 4.5 times more likely to have cesarean deliveries

stress the importance of “sleeping for 2”

Progesterone's inhibitory effects on smooth muscle influences that need to urinate.

Pregnancy and postpartum depression
Low progesterone and miscarriages

After much research it can be said that the hormone progesterone is the mechanism between the causal link between pregnancy and sleep disruptions.

Treatment

Does pregnancy cause sleep disorders
Or is it sleep deprivation that effects pregnancy

Imagine yourself in the first trimester of your pregnancy. You are a healthy woman in your 20s with no recorded problems in your sleep schedule. You begin to have fewer and fewer restful nights of sleep, frequently waking up with heartburn, nausea, the urge to urinate often and discomfort in your legs. Now imagine you are a healthy woman in your 20s who was very active and alert during the day but now that you are pregnant you can barely make it through the day without a nap or two. These sleep disturbances are symptoms commonly reported by pregnant women. “Poor sleep is such a common occurrence in pregnancy that probably many women and even their doctors think it’s is a normal part of pregnancy” (Shives, M.D.). Dr. Lisa Shive, M.D., the founder of Northshore Sleep Medicine, says that pregnancy has a significant impact on the quantity and quality of sleep and according to the National Sleep Foundation’s 1998 “Women and Sleep” poll, 78% of women report more disturbed sleep at other times. The most common sleep disturbances reported by pregnant women include: daytime sleepiness, insomnia, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, nocturnal gastroesophageal reflux, and frequent nighttime urination. The results of the National Sleep Foundation’s 1998 “Women and sleep” poll, 78% of women report more disturbed sleep than at other times. As with other sleep disturbance issues we are led to question the cause of these disturbances in order to prescribe treatment that will provide women relief during their pregnancy as nine-months is a long time to live with sleep disturbances. In this paper I will explore the relationship between sleep and pregnancy by discussing the two main mechanisms behind the causal relationship between pregnancy and sleep disturbances: hormonal changes causing fatigue and hormonal changes causing physical discomfort I will order my findings by trimester for clarity’s sake.
The first trimester is usually where the major hormonal changes in a woman’s body during pregnancy take place. Many hormones are affected but the hormone that seems to have the largest causal impact on sleep disturbances is progesterone. Progesterone is a hormone that is secreted first by the ovary’s corpus lutem, then by the placenta. It is secreted in order to promote

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