Unfortunately, being pregnant often means being sleepless. During pregnancy, almost two out of three women have trouble sleeping. They lie awake at night because of heartburn, cannot sleep through the night because of joint pain and water retention, or are woken up by the movements of their child.
And after the birth? Many women are awake at night because the baby wants to be fed or carried. Or they are simply awake to check whether everyone is still there. Sometimes the major hormonal changes after the birth can lead to problems falling asleep and sleeping through the night, as can the frequent urge to urinate in the first few days.
All of this is completely normal and usually just stressful, but not cause for concern. What many women notice, however, is that the symphysis hurts much more at night than during the day, the nipples are much more sensitive when breastfeeding in the dark, and the challenges of the day become almost insurmountable at night. And we're telling you: you're not imagining it, it's really like that!
Many people are particularly sensitive to pain at night - including mothers during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. There are physical reasons for this, because only a few endorphins or the body's own opioids are released in the brain at night. But because these are responsible for how intensely you perceive the pain in your pain centers, it hurts especially when these substances are not available.
And what about the circling thoughts and fears? Unfortunately, the studies on the connection between nighttime hormone levels and depressive and anxious thoughts do not produce any clear results. However, we know from psychology that loneliness and limited activity at night are strongly linked to circling thoughts and major worries. Because during the day you are active and can distract yourself, but at night that is not possible - and the thoughts do what they want.
What can you do specifically? Sometimes it helps to know that other women share your feelings and find breastfeeding particularly difficult at night and also struggle with worry. And to interrupt the latter, here are a few ideas that you can use to counteract your nighttime worries:
- Get up. If you notice that you really can't get back to sleep, get out of bed. Turn on a dim light and snuggle up somewhere with a warm drink.
- Write it down. Writing down your worrying thoughts at night for the next day can really work wonders. You're rid of them and can promise your brooding self that not a single thought is wasted.
- Breathe. Yes, we know how trite this sounds. But a few deep breaths calm your nervous system and can relax both your mind and your entire body.
