Dizziness During Pregnancy

Pregnancy comes with many changes. Some of these changes can be a little uncomfortable within your day to day life. One common symptom during pregnancy is dizziness or feeling faint. However, this symptom is not as widely known as nausea, bloating, and food aversions that common occur during this time. Dizziness and feeling faint is more common during your first trimester, but it can happen throughout your entire pregnancy.

Causes

Women usually experience dizzy spells or feeling faint within their first trimester. During your first trimester your body is adapting to the changes that come with creating a new life. The main cause of dizziness in pregnancy is due your body’s rising hormones that cause your blood vessels to widen and relax. Your blood vessels do this to increase the blood flow to your baby. However, it slows the return of blood in the veins back to you. This can cause drops in blood pressure.

These drops in blood pressure can reduce the blood flow to your brain. This can create a fuzzy signal within the reception between the messages being sent to the brain and the messages being received. These messages are how your brain analyzes the world around you. It is how we align to our senses and when these signals are interfered with this can make you feel dizzy.

Low blood sugar levels can also cause dizziness. This may occur as your body adapts to the changes within your metabolism. Women who suffer from varicose veins or anemia may be more susceptible to dizziness than others.

Within your second trimester, dizziness may occur as your growing uterus puts pressure on blood vessels. Later within your pregnancy if you lay on your back, dizziness may occur. This can cause the baby to push on the vena cava, the vein that carries blood from the lower body to the heart.

Remedies and Tricks to Help Ease Dizziness

Here are some helpful hints and tricks to help ease dizziness during pregnancy.

• Avoid standing for long periods of time. If you need to stand, try to keep your feet moving to help increase circulation.
• Eat regularly. Snack throughout the day if possible. A good habit to get into is carrying small fruit snacks with you in your purse. Avoid long periods in between meals, this could cause your blood sugar to drop.
• Avoid overheating. Avoid hot baths and showers. Wear loose, comfortable clothing to avoid restricting circulation and raising your body’s temperature.
• Stand up slowly. If you are sitting down or lying down make sure to get up slowly. This will help your body to adjust to the change and avoid dizziness that could occur.
• Stay hydrated. Make sure to drink more than 2 liters of water a day. If you are in a warmer climate make sure to drink even more water than this.
• Avoid lying on your back. Once you enter your second trimester, avoid lying on your back. This will help to make sure that you do not have the baby putting pressure on the vena cava.
• Elevate your feet. Elevating your feet will help to increase blood flow to your brain.

If you are feeling dizzy, try these helpful suggestions to remedy the feeling:

• Take deep breaths.
• Sit or lie down and lower your head.
• Avoid getting up quickly from lying down or sitting positions.
• Open windows to circulate air.
• Loosen any tight clothing.

When it’s Time to Consult the Doctor

If you experience dizziness during pregnancy it is important not to worry or panic, but it is important not to ignore it.

If your dizziness is accompanied by pain in your abdomen or vaginal bleeding, you should contact your healthcare provider right away. This may also be the sign of a deeper issue at hand.

If you have persistent dizziness or dizziness accompanied by headaches, blurred vision, or palpitations, you should contact your healthcare provider right away. These could be symptoms of anemia or other illnesses that may have a negative effect on your pregnancy.