top of page

Getting Comfortable Sleep During Pregnancy with Fibromyalgia

Updated: Sep 20

Pregnancy can make the simplest tasks difficult, including falling asleep and sleeping comfortably throughout the night. Knowing that this sleep will be your last peaceful sleep before the baby arrives makes missing out even more frustrating. Luckily, figuring out the best sleeping position for you while you are pregnant can be done, and it is easier than you may have thought initially. Here are tips for comfortable sleep during pregnancy with fibromyalgia.


Tips for Comfortable Sleep During Pregnancy


Choose the Right Position


Your sleeping position will significantly affect how comfortable you are in bed during your pregnancy. When you are far along in your pregnancy, sleeping on your stomach will be highly uncomfortable. Sleeping on your back can cause backache, breathing issues, low blood pressure, and hemorrhoids. All of these factors hurt your ability to sleep at night. Sleeping on your side is best. It helps with back pain, is comfortable, good for your posture, and may reduce the chances of a stillbirth, which is said to be more common in women who sleep on their backs when pregnant.


Add Pillows


Adding pillows to your sleeping position can make sleep more comfortable and help decrease back pain, a common issue many pregnant women deal with. Bending your knees during sleep is said to help stabilize you. This will stop you from feeling uncomfortable and rolling onto your back. Place one or two pillows in the middle of your knees to support you while you sleep. This can help keep your spine straight and reduce the pressure on your hips, spine, and nerves surrounding them.


a black woman smiling and laying on a bed with white sheets and various colorful pillows

Replace Your Mattress


Quality is just as important as quantity when it comes to sleep; a mattress will play a huge part in quality. A memory foam mattress is excellent for pregnant women because it will continuously provide the comfort and support required throughout the changes of your pregnancy. They are also hypoallergenic, non-toxic, and they don’t contain dust mites. This makes them one of the healthiest mattresses to sleep on. Purchasing the right mattress is essential. In this post, the best mattresses of 2024 have been compared to help you make the right decision.


Avoid These Foods


Eating the right food at the right time will determine how well you sleep at night. Cravings and appetite can be challenging to control during pregnancy, but you must do so. Eating right before bed can trigger heartburn, so you should avoid eating a few hours before bed. Certain types of food can also induce heartburn. These include citrus, spicy, fatty, fried, and acidic food. Unfortunately, chocolate also falls into the trigger foods. If you notice that your heartburn is worse during the night or when you eat certain things, then it should be avoided.


a woman of color sitting cross legged on a blue yoga mat and doing stretches

Stretches and Exercise


Proper exercise is essential during pregnancy. It doesn’t have to be intense; walking or cycling for half an hour daily can do you good. It helps keep your body healthy, strengthens your muscles, reduces weight gain, and enables you to sleep better at night. Stretching before exercise and bed will relieve muscle pain and cramps at night. You should focus on the legs and back when carrying out these stretches because these are the main areas that experience cramps and pain.


Use the Toilet Before Bed


Nothing is worse than getting into bed and realizing you must go to the toilet. This is even worse when you’re pregnant because it’s harder to get out of and back into bed, and you will have to find the correct sleeping position again. The task is long and disruptive. Also, many pregnant women have to pee more frequently due to the baby pushing on the bladder and an increase in blood volume, which means your kidneys have to process more fluid. Using the toilet right before bed would be best to avoid needing it in the middle of the night.


Getting adequate, good-quality rest is essential for everyone, especially those growing a baby inside them. Simple changes to your diet, sleeping position, and routine will help you get comfortable sleep during your pregnancy.

5 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page