Our FREE Baby Care Workshop centres around safe sleep for your baby, but we often forget about safe sleep during pregnancy. Our Experts recommend for pregnant women to sleep on their sides from the 2nd trimester on.
Due to the anatomy of blood vessels in the body you may feel weak or woozy lying and sleeping on your back in pregnancy, as your baby can put pressure on your major blood vessels affecting the blood supply to your baby. Your baby gets optimum blood flow when you’re lying on your left side. Although, that’s all well and good until your leg starts cramping and you’re tossing from your left to right and back to left again. Don’t worry if you wake up on your back but try to fall asleep on your left or right side…whichever is more comfy. But remember, you should try to avoid sleeping flat on your back altogether in the last trimester.
If you have restless legs at night, this can be a sign of dehydration. Try to stay hydrated over the course of the day, enjoy a little evening walk to help keep the blood pumping as you settle to sleep.
Suffering leg cramps is very common too. As soon as you feel the cramp starting, try to rub the muscle firmly and gently stretch your leg out straight and toes upwards. If your mattress is not great, invest in a good mattress “topper”, the pressure on the hips as you try to stay on your sides in the night can be so uncomfortable.
If you’re interested in attending our FREE Baby Care Workshop as mentioned above, click the button below to register. We look forward to having you along!
