How much sleep you’re going to need while your pregnant is going to vary quite a bit from one woman to the next. There are several factors that will contribute to determining how much sleep it is that you’re going to need, whether you’re pregnant or not. The key is to be able to identify when you’ve had enough sleep, and if you’re not getting enough sleep to be able to modify your schedule and habits so that you do get enough sleep.
There aren’t any hard and fast rules to determine how much sleep is necessary during pregnancy. However, if you know about how much sleep you need each night before you were pregnant, that’s a good place to start. Most women will find that about 30 to 90 minutes of additional sleep is necessary during pregnancy. So, if you typically slept about seven hours a night before you were pregnant, you can plan on needing between seven and a half and eight and a half hours of sleep as being necessary during pregnancy.
If you’re not sure how much sleep you were needing or getting before you were pregnant, you can try to measure it like this:
- Go to bed each night when you feel tired. Do this for one week.
- Set your alarm clock for 8 hours later.
- If you wake up before your alarm clock goes off, you are probably getting enough sleep.
- If you’re still very groggy and tired when your alarm clock goes off, you should try going to bed half an hour earlier the next week, and set the alarm clock for the same time that you did the previous week.
- Repeat this process until you’re waking up before your alarm clock goes off.
If you’re concerned that you aren’t getting the necessary sleep during pregnancy, talk to your doctor. Getting enough sleep is essential for your physical and mental well-being, as well as for the health of your baby.
