Learn how to spot the symptoms to help ensure a healthy pregnancy.
It’s normal to gain weight and suffer from insomnia during the later stages of your pregnancy. If you notice that you are snoring and that you feel more tired than usual when you wake up, you may be suffering from sleep disordered breathing.
What is sleep disordered breathing?
Sleep disordered breathing is defined as disturbances in your breathing that lead to micro-arousals and/or desaturations in your oxygen level. This can lead to hypertension, which may lead to preeclampsia in certain cases. Preeclampsia effects 5% to 7% of pregnancies, is strongly associated with low birth birth weight babies and fetal death. Diagnosis and treatment is important as soon as possible in order to maintain a healthy pregnancy.
What test do I need to perform to diagnose sleep disorders?
There is the need for quick testing. The best test to determine mild sleep disordered breathing is the Polysomnography (PSG). A PSG looks at recordings of the standard neurophysiologic (electroencephalogram, electro-oculogram, electromyogram), cardiac (electrocardiogram), respiratory (thoracic and abdominal excursion and nasal pressure) parameters, and oxygen saturation (SpO2). This test can conclude whether you are suffering from any type of sleep disordered breathing or other sleep disorder.
What is the treatment for sleep disordered breathing?
When using low levels of CPAP there is a marked improvement in sleep disordered breathing and hypertension. The use of CPAP has also been shown to increase fetal activity in those with diagnosed sleep disordered breathing. CPAP is a device that provides a positive flow of air into nasal passages in order to keep the airway open. It can take some time to get used to using CPAP. A supportive sleep clinic can help make the transition to CPAP sleep easier.
If you feel you may have sleep disordered breathing, pregnant or not, speak to your physician about obtaining a sleep study. The sooner you are diagnosed, the sooner you can start CPAP treatment.
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