 It is interesting that women are two or three times more likely to snore during pregnancy.
Snoring pregnant women are at high risk of development of health problems. Besides, this is obviously a problem for the woman's partner, which may cause tension within the couple at the very time when she most needs support.
Chronic snoring is known to be linked with respiratory problems at night that can cause daytime sleepiness, elevated blood pressure. These conditions may be danger not only for the mother, but also for the fetus, which may suffer growth retardation.
Why do women snore during pregnancy?
Likelihood of snoring in pregnant women depends upon a pregnant woman's weight. By the way, the pregnant women who snored had a greater neck bend than the non-snorers.
The point is that the upper airway narrows during pregnancy. The narrowing of the upper airway is caused by a physical phenomenon connected to increased weight and distention of the abdomen during pregnancy.
Excessive fat begins to store in the soft tissue of the neck and around the upper airways. This increases neck size and narrows the airway. In pregnant women blood pressure rises as the airway becomes narrower. That’s why pregnant snorers have an increased risk of pre-eclampsia.
There is also good news: these symptoms are reversible. It has been found that the proportion of pregnant snorers fell back to 18% three months after delivery which was close to the proportion of women snorers in their control group.
During pregnancy many changes occur within the respiratory system. These changes can alter the function of sleep, increasing the likelihood of sleep disordered breathing. They might include increased ventilatory drive and metabolic rate and changes in upper airway patency. That’s why the snoring may occur.
Circulating estrogen and progesterone levels increase notably during pregnancy. Besides, an increase in circulating blood volume may give rise to nasal congestion and rhinitis.
23% of healthy pregnant women snore. And only 4% of non-pregnant women snore.
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