Coping with shortness of breath in pregnancy
At first it feels frightening, then you get used to it, but getting out of breath in late pregnancy is no fun.
Some women get short of breath in pregnancy as early as half way through their term, but for most women who suffer breathlessness, it comes along as their bumps grow.
At this point, it's easy to imagine that the uterus is putting pressure on the lungs and diaphragm and, after the first attack of gasping breathlessness, a pregnant woman begins to recognise its onset.
Ironically, during pregnancy, the body is better at using its oxygen supply and you shouldn't worry, if this happens to you, that you or the baby have a compromised supply of oxygen. However, it is at worst very worrying and at best plain uncomfortable.
If you find you get out of breath most often when you are seated, try standing up and taking deep breaths. Try, despite the attack, to stay calm or to relax by closing your eyes and thinking about something more serene.
If you suffer more when you are lying down, you might find it comes on as you are waking up in the morning and you need to sit up on the side of the bed. (Take care not to move too suddenly if you also suffer from pregnancy leg cramps as these can be set off when you spring to action without warming/stretching your calf muscles.) You can also try sleeping with your body more propped up if you find lying flat brings on breathlessness.
If you are in a car and you get an attack, try opening the window and letting the air rush into your face. Don't be afraid to ask the driver to stop and let you get out for a few minutes.
If the traffic air or the room you are in is stuffy, try to get somewhere with a basin so you can breath close to the freshness of the running cool water. If you are on the move, always make sure you have a bottle of water with you. (Even if you don't fancy drinking any, try dabbing some water around your mouth or just inhaling the air from the water bottle.)
CALL THE DOCTOR if the breathlessness is severe, causing rapid breathing (or hyperventilation), chest pains, or blueness of your lips or fingers.
Not all women suffer from breathlessness, especially if their bump is quite low throughout pregnancy, and many others find the problem eases off once the baby 'drops' down in the weeks leading up to the birth.
I had no problems with this condition at all with my son but with my daughter I suffered with breathlessness in the last two months of the pregnancy. (With him it was the swollen ankles!)
If I was walking along a street and it came on, I just stopped, leaned against something and let my breathing return to normal whilst trying not to panic. I do use mild inhaler treatment for asthma but this did not seem to be in any way related to that. However, I made sure I kept up my twice-daily inhalations so that other chesty conditions like hayfever and coughs would not aggrevate the breathlessness.
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