Sleep better when you are expecting

From glowing with the excitement of a life growing inside to the amount of pampering experienced by expectant mothers, the duration of pregnancy is often said to be one of the most exhilarating experiences a woman can have. However, apart from receiving the care showered by others, expectant mothers should be careful about getting perfect sleep too.

Sleep is a significant aspect that plays a crucial role in the health of the mother and baby.

Ankit Garg, Co-founder and CEO of Wakefit.co and Devrath Vijay, Founder of the functional training studio, The Outfit, outline a few ways through which expecting mothers can ensure they get a good night's sleep in the most comfortable manner to ensure that the baby growing inside gets its share of much-needed, peaceful slumber.

* Watch your diet: It is said that what we eat before going to sleep has an immense impact on how well we doze off. Pregnant mothers should ideally eat light during dinner, and avoid acidic, oil-rich or fatty foods. Additionally, they should ensure that there is at least an hour's gap between their finishing dinner and going to sleep. Furthermore, it is not ideal to directly go into a resting position after eating and pregnant women should ideally take a short walk before going to sleep.

* Identify a comfortable position: With a protruding belly, it can become difficult to find a comfortable sleeping position. As per some reports, it is suggested that pregnant women start sleeping on their left side, as it increases the amount of blood and nutrients that reach the baby. From the third trimester onwards, women should practice sleeping on the left side and not on their backs as the weight of the baby can compress the mother's major blood vessels.

* Choose the perfect mattress: It is essential for pregnant women to sleep in a bed that is comfortable and has a clean, comfortable and sturdy mattress. Recently, various modern-day mattress innovators such as Wakefit have brought about a revolution of sorts in the mattress industry by introducing a unique offering called memory foam mattresses. These mattresses can adjust themselves according to the body contours of the sleeper, thereby giving a feeling of being cocooned in a cozy space for that ultimate sleep.

* Cut down on fluid intake during night: It is an oft-repeated advice to ensure the undisturbed sleep of pregnant mothers is not broken by repeated visits to the bathroom. Also, keeping perfumed potpourri or soap, scented candles etc, near the bed helps to tide over those pressing bouts of nausea.

* Consume light, happy content: Reading gory books before bed-time or watching extremely tense, edge-of-the-seat thrillers before sleep can often have a negative impact on the body. It is advised that pregnant mothers should start slowing down 1.5-2 hours prior to sleeping and listen to mellow songs, take a relaxing bath or read/watch light and uplifting content in books or TV shows.

--IANS

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