• Up to 25-30% of pregnant women snore (so
you are not alone!).
• Hormones like oestrogen and progesterone
increase remarkably during pregnancy giving rise
to snoring.
• Anybody can be a candidate for mild to
severe snoring during any part of their pregnancy.
• The increase in blood volume is also responsible
for nasal congestion as it causes the blood vessels
to expand. This expansion in the nasal area causes
the mucus membrane to expand as well.
• It is more common during the second half
of the pregnancy and even more pronounced during
the last trimester.
• During pregnancy the nasal passages swell
and become congested. The upper airway narrows
and makes you more prone to snoring.
Some things that you can practice to prevent
or reduce snoring include:
• Sleep on your side rather than your back.
Sleeping on your back can block your airway (in
any case you should be sleeping on your sides
now that you are pregnant!).
• Prop up your head with extra pillows;
sleeping in elevated positions will help keep
your airways open.
• Keep your weight in check. Overweight
women are in particular at higher risk of developing
snoring-related problems. Studies indicate that
women who were regularly snoring during pregnancy
had weight issues prior to becoming pregnant and
ended up gaining more weight than the desired
level during pregnancy.
• Try using nasal strips and tape it to
the bridge of your nose to help increase the area
of your nasal passages and airways.
• Cut back on caffeine to zero as it narrows
down the airways and can cause you to snore more.
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On a more serious
note snoring can have not too pleasant repercussions.
• Snoring can be related to hypertension.
• Women who snore during pregnancy are at
increased risk of having pregnancy induced high
BP or preeclampsia.
• Snoring during pregnancy also increases
the risk of slowed fetal growth, low birth weight
babies and babies with lower apgar scores.
• Snoring can also be a sign of sleep apnea
or sleep disorder where the breathing ceases for
short intervals during sleep. This causes lack
of oxygen to disrupt the mother's sleep and stress
the fetus. It can keep the mother from feeling
rested and on a more dangerous level, cause heart
and BP complications.
