During pregnancy, the amount of blood in the body increases, which causes the blood vessels to expand. This can lead to swelling of the nasal passages, forcing you to breathe through your mouth. Gaining some weight during pregnancy is good, but there is a limit. On average, pregnant women should gain about 25 pounds during pregnancy.
Increasing too much could put extra pressure around the airways. In a study published in the January issue of Chest, habitual snorers had a higher incidence of high blood pressure, preeclampsia, abnormal fluid accumulation in the tissues, and weight gain. The women's babies were smaller and had lower fitness scores than babies of mothers who snored infrequently during pregnancy. A significant number of women develop snoring and sleep apnea during pregnancy.
Although it is often benign, it can also be a warning sign of a more serious condition. Research shows that snoring is correlated with high blood pressure and preeclampsia, while sleep apnea may increase the risk of maternal morbidity. Sleep apnea also appears to be correlated with gestational diabetes. This causes congestion and a narrowing of the nasal passages that force you to breathe through your mouth while you sleep and, most often, you snore.
According to research by the University of Michigan Health System, if you snore at least three or more times a week, you're more likely to have C-sections during labor or end up giving birth to a smaller baby. Of these women, 10% met the definition of preeclampsia with high blood pressure and protein in the urine, compared with 4% of infrequent snorers. Women who reported habitual snoring weighed more before pregnancy and gained more weight during pregnancy than those who snored infrequently. If you snore and have ever Googled how to stop snoring, you probably know the standard remedies for snoring.
Loube says that one-third to one-half of pregnant women snore, largely as a result of increased fluid retention in the nasal passages as pregnancy progresses. According to the British Snoring and Sleep Apnea Association, 23% of women snore during pregnancy, and the two main culprits are hormones and weight gain. By maternal snoring status, this accounted for 17.9% of babies born to women who did not snore, 21.1% of babies who snored in early pregnancy, and 24.6% of babies with chronic snoring. However, chronic snoring refers to women who regularly and severely snore both before becoming pregnant and during pregnancy.
The authors say that all the women in their study who snored routinely reported that snoring started before any signs of high blood pressure or protein in the urine. By maternal snoring group, 8.3% of babies born to women who did not snore, 8.4% of babies born to early pregnancy snoring, and 11.3% of babies born to chronic snoring were admitted to the NICU. Although a higher proportion of children with chronic snoring were admitted to the NICU compared to the other two groups, this did not reach statistical significance (P %3D 0.30).
