Introduction – Snoring during pregnancy
Snoring during pregnancy is a phenomenon that affects almost every tenth woman by the end of pregnancy. Particularly predestined are women who already have an increased risk of snoring. In particular, these are people with special features of the jaw anatomy, back sleepers and particularly overweight people.
As with almost all changes during pregnancy, hormones are also involved. However, to calm you down, it is important to know that snoring will disappear just as quickly as it came. It is advisable to first read the main article on snoring: Why does snoring occur at all?
Causes – Why does snoring occur during pregnancy
If during pregnancy many new publications are blamed on the altered hormone balance, this is often justified. This is also the case here: the hormone progesterone ensures increased water retention in all body tissues and especially in the mucous membranes. This in turn causes swelling of the nasal mucous membranes and the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat.
This leads to a narrowing of the airway. If the inhaled air now makes its way past these “obstacles”, the snoring sound is produced. A further reason for increased snoring, especially in late pregnancy, is the increased space requirement of the unborn child.
During pregnancy the internal organs are displaced from their original places. This shifting and displacement can also lead to the tongue and hyoid bone being pushed further back into the throat or the space for the inhaled air being restricted by this circumstance. The causes of snoring explained in detail can be found under: Causes of snoring
Can snoring during pregnancy be dangerous for my baby?
In general, the mother’s snoring is not dangerous for the child. It is only dangerous when so-called apnoea phases occur during snoring. However, not every snoring is automatically accompanied by apnoea phases.
These breathing stops ensure that the oxygen reserves in the maternal blood are used up and are no longer available to the child or placenta. Since the child does not yet have an independent oxygen supply in the womb, it is dependent on the mother’s breathing. An adequate supply of oxygen is important for the proper development of the child. An oxygen deficiency within the first weeks is usually associated with a higher rate of complications than an oxygen deficiency in the later stages of pregnancy.
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