pregnancy worries

[fatma]

a 30 year old 8.5 month pregnant woman has a worry about my breathing whilst asleep. I tend to sleep erratically awakening with a start as my breathing seems to stop. I am rather concerned that I may not awaken after birth.

[andy hughes]

It sounds like you are experiencing sleep apnea - a condition where breathing stops during sleep. You mustn't panic, your body is 'programmed' to re-start your breathing after a few seconds, and there is no danger at all of your stopping breathing during birth - your body's survival instinct for yourself and baby will prevent that, and you will have the medical support you need to oversee everything and keep you safe. If it is bothering you, have a word with your GP - it may be a temporary condition caused by pregnancy, but your doctor will advise and set your mind at rest.

[HGray]

My advice is not to worry too much. I worried like mad about every single little thing that happened to me during my pregnancy - I walked into a bollard once and was convinced that I'd dented my baby's head! Sleeping is a difficult thing anyway when you're pregnant, especially at that stage of pregnancy. You're probably in an uncomfrtable position anyway. Your muscle tone is looser because of the pregnancy hormones, and this could lead the the flaps of skin at the back of your mouth causing you to snore and wake with a start. After you have the baby, your hormones stop you sleeping deeply - probably so you can listen out for your baby, so don't worry about not waking up. You'll probably be more worried about getting any sleep. Please talk to your midwife - anything which concerns you is worth talking about.

[incitatus]

Another possibility is that you may have started to snore! This does happen during pregnancy, and can feel much as you describe. Again panic not. Talk to your doctor, get checked out, then relax, because it is almost certainly nothing.

[vittoria]

I had exactly the same feeling during the last few weeks of my pregnancy - I woke up with a start as I was suffocating. It happens because the baby weighs (not sure where) and for a first pregnancy, it should get better a couple of weeks before the due date as the baby gets into position for the birth. This is what happened to me, and this particular problem improved a couple of weeks before the birth, and stopped altogether after the birth.