Dizziness During Pregnancy
Contents:
- What is Dizziness and Fainting?
- Causes of Dizziness in Expectant Mothers
- How to Avoid Dizziness in Pregnancy?
- What to Do if You Feel Dizzy?
Blurry Vision and Dizziness During Pregnancy
Dizziness during pregnancy often occurs even in those women who had never suffered from it. This symptom may occur in transport, in a stuffy room, or "out of the blue". Dizziness is not always indicative of some terrible state, but you must pay attention to it.
- Dizziness in pregnant women may be due to the increased load on the heart and blood vessels, to a low level of glucose and hemoglobin in the blood.
- Obstetrician can help to find out the cause of dizziness which began in anticipation of the baby.
- A regular balanced diet, reasonable exercise and supervision by a doctor can help avoid a repeat of seizures.
What is Dizziness and Fainting?
The illusion of self-motion and objects moving around, which we usually perceive as rotation, the experts call dizziness. Normally, dizziness may start due to sudden unusual movements of the head, too much stimulation of the visual or vestibular receptors (for example, if you look at the earth from a great height, or you are on the ship during pitching).
Fainting is brief loss of consciousness due to a decrease in blood flow to the brain. Before its onset severe dizziness, numbness of hands and feet, ringing in the ears, darkening of the eyes, cold sweat, or severe weakness can be experienced.
During the fainting the victim does not normally fall, but "sinks" or "slides along the wall". If a person feels that he becomes ill, he may have time to sit down before fainting. The faint is different, for example, from convulsive seizures. The person in a faint has weak pulse, low blood pressure, pale skin.
Causes of Dizziness in Expectant Mothers
During pregnancy pelvic vascular network develops, because the uterus and the future baby require intensive blood flow. If in the normal state of a woman on the circulation in the uterus accounts for about 2 % of blood in the body, that uterine blood flow during the last months before delivery is 20-30 %.
To ensure this volume the body vigorously synthesizes blood cells, heart works with high efficiency to maintain the desired circulation, due to which the flow of blood to the brain and other organs weakens.
In general, in normal pregnancy blood pressure usually decreases. In part, this phenomenon is explained by the peculiarities of hormonal condition – or rather, the growth of indicators of progesterone hormone.
Typically, due to lower pressure a woman does not feel any discomfort. But for example, due to lack of oxygen in a stuffy room or frequent vomiting during toxicosis, dizziness may appear. Dizziness in pregnancy is one of signs of reduction of blood glucose (hypoglycemia) or anemia (hemoglobin shortage).
How to Avoid Dizziness and Light Headed in Pregnancy?
First of all, we must try not to make sudden movements of the head, get up from a sitting or lying slower than usual, but in stuffy rooms and transport do not hesitate to ask to give way. Dizziness can be caused by the fact that you forgot to eat: then it is better to eat a chocolate bar or other foods rich in carbohydrates, drink a cup of strong sweet tea. To better prevent the recurrence of seizures, the expectant mother should eat at least four times a day.
The most effective measures of prevention of dizziness are walking more in the fresh air, relax, engage in special exercises for pregnant women, swimming. If the load will be regular and proportionate to the level of training of the pregnant woman, such exercise strengthens the cardiovascular system and is able to provide normal blood flow in any situation. If the blood test revealed anemia, expectant mother needs to follow the doctor's recommendations. This disorder can be caused by different reasons, for each of which their own methods of treatment are developed.
What to Do if You Feel Dizzy?
With the emergence of the first signs of dizziness (dark eyes, tinnitus, weakness) you need to sit down, and if possible lie down, placing something under the feet, so that they are above head level. This increases blood flow to the brain, and after some time the malaise will pass away.