Pregnancy, Sleep-Disordered breathing, and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)

Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB) is common among pregnant women. Most women of childbearing age might find it useful for screening for unrecognized Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).

Several studies link SDB to gestational hypertension and preeclampsia. A study by the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania obstetrics practices revealed that 10.5% of women had OSA in the first trimester. By the third trimester, 26.7% of women had OSA. In short, pregnant women with OSA are at increased risk for having LBW, preterm, and SGA infants, CS, and preeclampsia compared with pregnant women without OSA.

Pregnancy and Shortness of Breath(SOB)

Shortness of Breath during pregnancy comes second to the hormonal and mechanical effects of pregnancy.

SOB and asthma incidents that require medical intervention occur in about 20% of women, with almost 6% of women requiring admission to the hospital. Commonly occurring in the late second trimester, the triggers could be a viral infection. Women who have severe cases of SOB or asthma have been found to be at significant risk of having a low birth weight baby compared to women without these symptoms. Since pregnant or breastfeeding women may be less likely to receive oral steroids for the emergency management of asthma, effective control of breathing during pregnancy is vital for the health of both the mother and the fetus.

Remember -When pregnant, all that wheezes is not Asthma. SOB is commonly attributed to asthma; the new-onset- cardiac pathology is rarely considered.

Pregnancy and Cardiomyopathy- a Deadly Combination!

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a life-threatening complication of pregnancy. This form of dilated cardiomyopathy causes congestive heart failure in the later months of pregnancy or in the first five months after birth. PPCM is often not diagnosed earlier in its course because the symptoms and manifestations are highly variable.

For example, some signs of PPCM such as prostration, shortness of breath on mild exertion, and coughing- are often misinterpreted as evidence of physiological problems of pregnancy or pneumonia.

Though the underlying factors that cause PPCM are not known, most studies conducted in this regard point to risk factors like age, pregnancy-related hypertension disorders, multiparity, multiple gestations, obesity, and chronic hypertension.

Air Pollution Causes Hypertension in Unborn Babies!

Noel Mueller of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore examined the data on 1,293 mother-child pairs and assessed kids’ blood pressure at checkups from ages 3 to 9 years.

He says:

"We believe that when pregnant women breathe air with high levels of fine particulate matter, it causes an inflammatory response that alters gene expression and fetal growth and development on the pathway to high blood pressure in childhood."

The study reveals that children exposed to the highest levels of ‘fine-particulate air pollution' in late pregnancy were 61 percent more likely to have high blood pressure than those exposed to the least pollution. It suggests being wary of PM2.5, which, when inhaled, can enter the circulatory system and lead to health problems.

Optimal Breathing Helps Alleviate Shortness of Breath (SOB)

As the uterus keeps expanding during pregnancy, the belly gets bigger. The pressure on the diaphragm and lungs might take a toll on the health due to low lung capacity and lack of space for expansion and contraction. Optimal Breathing during the early stages of pregnancy will help tackle this problem effectively.

Better Oxygen Supply

Through Optimal Breathing, an improved amount of oxygen can be released into the bloodstream, helping the well-being of both mom and baby. Optimal Breathing also helps in removing carbon dioxide from the body and replaces it with life-giving oxygen.

Helps Release Toxins

More than 70% of toxins in your body can be flushed out just by breathing correctly. Optimal Breathing helps correct your natural breathing process and thus helps in detoxifying your body. This is even more important when you are pregnant or breastfeeding and taking care of another life that is dependent on you.

Strengthens Immunity

Better breathing often means better metabolism because more oxygen means more vitality and energy. As a result, any disease-causing bacteria can not survive in an environment with a great metabolism. Optimal Breathing helps in preventing the presence of deadly bacteria and assists in improving immunity.

Better immunity means fewer infections!

Helps in Weight Control

You might be tempted to let go of your weight management during and after pregnancy. But gaining too much weight is a definite no-no as it might give rise to many pregnancy-related complications like gestational diabetes, thrombosis, hypertension, and even PPCM, as explained above. 

To maintain a healthy Body Mass Index, you need Oxygen. As Oxygen burns fat, Optimal Breathing will help you in keeping a healthy weight.

Improves Your Stamina

A mother can have all the strength in the world and yet fall short of doing everything for her baby. By making Optimal Breathing a part of her daily routine, she can improve her body and breathing strength dramatically. Optimal Breathing helps boost stamina which is needed to sail through motherhood pre and postpartum, with greater ease.

Promotes Easier Labor

Fear, anxiety, excessive eagerness, tension, even increased, but excessive happiness may occur.

A rollercoaster of emotions that a woman has to go through during pregnancy. These emotions are at their peak when in labor. Optimal Breathing helps in being composed. In fact, we begin to go through how optimal breathing helps in going through each stage of labor with ease. You need a robust set of abdominal muscles to help push the baby out, and with weak lungs, it might prove to be pretty tough, even life-threatening for the mother, baby, or both!

Patterned breathing is a technique often referred to by obstetricians and birthing experts. It is nothing but the act of breathing at any number of possible rates and depths. During pregnancy, some women prefer deep breathing using their diaphragm to fill their abdomen with air. Others prefer light breathing, inhaling just enough to fill their chest.

Learning natural ways to overcome stress, depression, and anxiety

How to accept and listen to your body at all ages and much more!

Your breathing can become an automatic response to lessen pain.

You remain more relaxed and can respond more positively to the onset of pain.

You have a general sense of well-being and feel in control.

The steady rhythm of the easiest breathing is essential for the calmest labor.

Increased levels of oxygen provide more strength and energy for both the mother and baby.

With relaxed muscles, contractions become more productive, and labor is easier.

Postpartum, this same technique helps in dealing with stressful days with a small baby demanding your time and attention all the time. But more about all that in the Pregnancy Course.

Sit comfortably in an open space. Preferably cross-legged with a straight spine if possible. You may take back support if needed. Maybe even a NADA chair.

Close your eyes and relax your whole body; start with your forehead, jaws, and shoulders down to your chest, abdomen, legs, and toes.

As you relax, place your left hand on your chest and right hand on your belly, and inhale slowly through your nose or mouth if your nose is blocked. As you inhale, imagine the air going all the way down to your toes.

Your belly should bulge out as you breathe in, or if you are too full of the baby, at least it might feel that your belly wants to get larger even if it cannot.

Now leak out the exhale so that it takes a longer time to release the air than it did to inhale it. Do not hold your breath at the top of the in-breath. The exhalation should commence immediately and take two to 5 times the time taken to inhale. So if you took 2 seconds to inhale, take about 4-10 seconds to leak it.

Do this for about 5-10 minutes hourly, five to several times a day. You should feel calmer. If not, skip this one and move on to the next one.

The exercises are most effective on a half-empty stomach.

If you feel illness or continuing discomfort, stop and consult your medical practitioner.

These exercises should be quite safe, but it's always advisable to practice when someone is around so that they can help you just in case.

These are helpful ways of feeling calm and relaxed, whether you are pregnant or not. In addition to enhancing your experience of pregnancy and labor, the Optimal Breathing Academy Techniques and Exercises can help you as a new mom to regain proper deep easy breaths, release stress and compose yourself better. But more about that in the Pregnancy Course.