7 Ways to Ease Shortness of Breath During Pregnancy
Shortness of breath during pregnancy increases in both frequency and intensity during the third trimester as your expanding uterus limits your lungs’ ability to expand with each breath.
To compensate for cramping your breathing space from below, pregnancy hormones stimulate you to breathe more often and more efficiently, just to make sure you and your baby are getting the oxygen you need. Try these 7 tips to relieve breathlessness during the third trimester:
1. Change Position
As soon as you feel breathless, move to a position that helps you breathe easier.
2. Slow Down to Ease Shortness of Breath During Pregnancy
When you feel shortness of breath during pregnancy, be sure to listen to your body’s signals that you are exceeding your limits and slow down.
3. Try Breathing Exercises
Breathing exercises can raise your rib cage and promote more chest breathing. Deep abdominal breathing obviously becomes more difficult as your uterus grows. Follow the steps below to relieve your shortness of breath during pregnancy:
- Stand up (this will relieve some of the pressure on your diaphragm).
- Inhale deeply while raising your arms outward to the sides and upward.
- Exhale slowly as you bring your arms back down to your sides.
- Raise and lower your head as you inhale and exhale.
- To be sure you are breathing more into your chest than down into the abdomen, check for rib cage expansion by placing your hands on the sides of your rib cage.
- Make your ribs push out against your hands as you inhale deeply. Focus on how this deep chest breathing feels so that you can switch to it whenever the crowding of your uterus on your lungs makes abdominal breathing more difficult.
4. Practice Breathing for Labor
To help shortness of breath during pregnancy, practice slow, deep, relaxed breathing. (This is the type of breathing used throughout labor if you are learning the Bradley method. If you are using the Lamaze method, this is the type of breathing you’ll be doing throughout much of the active stage of labor.)
5. Exercise Regularly
Aerobic exercise may help shortness of breath during pregnancy. Aerobic exercise improves the efficiency of both the respiratory and the circulatory systems.
6. Experiment with Sitting and Sleeping Positions
Find positions that help you breathe more easily. Sitting in a straight chair using correct posture – chest lifted, shoulders back – is easier on the lungs than sitting slumped over in a recliner. Sleep semi-reclined, propped up on pillows. Or try elevating your head with an extra pillow while sleeping in the side-lying position.
7. Know When to Seek Help for Shortness of Breath During Pregnancy
If you experience sudden, severe shortness of breath accompanied by chest pain, rapid breathing, or a much more rapid pulse, or severe chest pain while taking a deep breath, seek medical attention immediately. This could be a signal that a blood clot has dislodged and settled in your lungs – a rare but serious problem.
To learn more about pregnancy, see The Healthy Pregnancy Book: Month by Month, Everything You Need to Know from America’s Baby Experts