If you are having problems sleeping that are concerning you, please discuss this with your doctor.

Other Sleeping Problems During Pregnancy

There are many reasons why you may be having trouble sleeping during your pregnancy other than breathing problems:

• Nausea
• Discomfort (e.g. backache, pelvic pain)
• Insomnia
• Stress and Anxiety
• Frequent bathroom trips

There are ways to manage these problems and improve your sleep.

Discomfort and Nausea:

The below website provides some useful and practical information about common discomforts in pregnancy and how to manage them.

https://www.midwife.org.nz/women/pregnancy/common-discomforts-and-how-to-manage/

Insomnia:

Many people experience symptoms of insomnia during their pregnancy. This can be for many reasons.

The below website provides some very useful information about insomnia during pregnancy.

https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/insomnia-in-pregnancy-and-breastfeeding

Online Insomnia Support:

There are free online insomnia support course. These courses use principals of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) which has been proven to be very effective for improving insomnia when delivered as an online course.

https://www.justathought.co.nz/insomnia

https://thiswayup.org.au/programs/insomnia-program/

Often insomnia is related to stress and worry. It can be useful to address your stress and anxiety as this can help you sleep better. Just a Thought offers a wellbeing during pregnancy course as well. This is free and online as well. The link is below.

https://www.justathought.co.nz/pregnancy

Medicines:

Talk to your doctor or midwife about what medications may be safe to take.

Sedating antihistamines diphenhydramine and doxylamine are safe to use in pregnancy but make sure you discuss this with your doctor or midwife before taking them. You can find more information about this on the webpage linked above.