My wife and I tried to have a baby for 6 years to no avail so when she finally became pregnant you could imagine our excitement. We were pretty much prepared for anything at that point until she started snoring!
It started at some point during her second trimester (from week 13 to the end of week 26) if I remember right. We were completely blown away…
I had already taken care of my snoring with something called Zquiet, but we were completely not prepared for her to start snoring so loud every night. We knew about the common nuances that come with any pregnancy like cramps, urinary frequency and incontinence, heartburn and indigestion, varicose veins, backache, constipation, hemorrhoids and even thrush, but snoring?!
Why was my wife snoring now when she didn’t snore before?
Snoring generally occurs when your upper airway relaxes, and the passageway becomes smaller making it more difficult for air to pass through your mouth or nasal passage. This usually causes vibration in your throat or nose.
But why now? We decided to do a little research…
The first reason is that the baby is growing inside you, so it is pushing and putting more pressure internally so naturally it is going to be harder to breathe…
The second reason is going to be because of pregnancy hormones. Your hormones change during pregnancy and cause your mucous membranes and blood vessels to dilate. The dilation will cause you to snore. Plus, your blood volume increases by 50 percent, which expands the blood vessels and also causes the nasal membranes to swell…
A third reason is because of your blood – By the third trimester, your blood plasma volume is 40-50% more than it was before you were pregnant. The increase in blood during your pregnancy is because there is a baby growing inside of you and in case you lose blood during the birth. This increase in blood puts more pressure on different parts of your body, including those areas responsible for snoring…
Your airway becomes filled with more blood flow which can cause it to swell and become narrower which leads to snoring. Also, your nose will become more congested, showing itself in rhinitis or nasal congestion. This will cause you to breathe through your mouth more which will cause you to snore…
Another fourth often overlooked but serious factor is stress –
- “Stress affects breathing and breathing affects snoring,” said Tess Graham, a breathing educator and physiotherapist in Australia and author of Relief from Snoring and Sleep Apnea.
- Any type of stress on the body, whether it’s physical, mental or emotional, or even “digestive” stress from eating a large meal, can elevate the breathing rate…
- That increase, combined with relaxed throat muscles when you sleep, can lead to snoring, Graham said…
Okay now we knew why but what do we do about it?…
So we kept digging deeper until we answered all of our questions…
- Try a chin strap – may be the fastest most efficient way to stop snoring. It supports your jaw and keeps it in place to keep your breathing muscles from collapsing and narrowing your airway…
- Try nasal dilators – these simple devices either fit into your nostrils, or across the bridge of your nose. Here, they gently open your nasal passages and reduce snoring associated with a blocked nose.
- Try a Stop Snoring Mouthpiece – These mouthpieces are designed to hold you lower jaw out past your upper jaw while sleeping which keeps your airway open. As mentioned above I use Zquiet.
- Buy a humidifier – one of the main reasons women snore while pregnant is because of nasal congestion. Make sure you get one with a warm mist option and use it in your bedroom while your sleeping to at least reduce your snoring if it doesn’t stop altogether.
- Try sleeping on your side – It is better to sleep on your left side if possible. This supposedly helps your blood flow and circulation improve which will help you sleep better…
- Try elevating your head while sleeping – you can buy a specially made pillow to do this or simply stack pillows. This will help keep your lower jaw relaxed which will also keep your airway narrower…
- Watch what you eat – it is well known now that weight gain is one of the most common factors that causes snoring. In addition to the added weight tension from the baby it is easy to gain weight from the extra food cravings from being pregnant. Also, stay away from sleeping pills, alcohol and tobacco. These are other things that aren’t healthy for your baby and can narrow your throat or airway…
- Buy some ear plugs – if your snoring then you are more than likely keeping your partner awake. While you try to solve your snoring there is no reason to make your partner suffer. Sleep deprivation is nothing to laugh at, so you need to work together as a team to solve this problem…
- Sleep in separate rooms – I know this option is probably the least appealing but if nothing else works, maybe this is the best option at least until the baby is born…
Is snoring during pregnancy dangerous for my wife?
About a third of pregnant women snore. There is plenty of research that implies that pregnant snorers have a greater risk of a more complicated pregnancy. These risks are:
High blood pressure and more protein in the urine…
Lower birth weight in the baby
Necessary to have a C-Section
Babies having a low birth weight
The main concern among pregnant snorers is among pregnant women who snored before they were pregnant. These women are referred to as ‘chronic snorers’. If you didn’t snore before you were pregnant, you probably don’t need to worry…
Also, if you do have the pregnancy complications talked about above snoring isn’t the only factor that may be causing them. There could be other problems which your Doctor will be aware of…
If you are overweight, smoke while pregnant or have respiratory issues you may need to seek out the help of a professional…
When does snoring during pregnancy usually end?
If you snored before you were pregnant than you are a ‘chronic snorer’ as stated above…
If you snored before you were pregnant than you will have to treat yourself as a normal snorer and try some remedies you can do at home or cut to the chase and see a specialist…
If you didn’t snore before you were pregnant then you will probably stop snoring as soon as the baby is born, and your body goes back to the way that it was before the pregnancy…
Seeing a sleep specialist
Although many problems with sleep can be dealt with through simple changes in routines or in the sleep environment, sometimes your snoring will continue. If you try some of the home remedies listed above or suggested in this website and you continue to snore, then it is time to see a sleep specialist.
Sleep specialists are trained to evaluate individuals for sleep disorders. If you are diagnosed with a sleep disorder, it is important to get treatment. Sleep disorders are usually chronic and may lead to other health complications.