How to Get Your Z’s During Pregnancy

By Deirdre Wilson

Along with morning sickness, cravings and emotions, pregnancy brings with it a frustrating irony. You badly need your sleep but can’t seem to get enough. During the first trimester, women can become exhausted during the day only to toss and turn at night. The second trimester’s leg cramps, back pain or restless legs syndrome can also thwart sleep. And the home-stretch third trimester features discomfort from your swollen belly, heartburn, a kicking baby and disruptive snoring or sleep apnea.

Sleep difficulties are common for expectant moms right from the start, says Jodi Mindell, Ph.D., author of several sleep books, including Sleep Deprived No More (Marlowe & Company, 2007), and the associate director of the Sleep Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. By the end of pregnancy, 97 percent of pregnant women fail to sleep through the night, she says.

Why? In Sleep Deprived No More, Mindell blames surging hormones, particularly in the first trimester, for daytime fatigue and nighttime sleep problems. She also points to nightly interruptions, such as the need to frequently use the bathroom, difficulty finding a comfortable sleeping position, leg cramps, heartburn and even itchy skin. And then there are the women who start to suffer from sleep apnea or restless legs syndrome.