Feeling Faint When You Are Pregnant

Feeling faint is a common symptom during pregnancy. This is more prominent during the first and last trimesters of your pregnancy. If you feel faint very frequently, do consult your doctor immediately.

Causes

Some factors that trigger the fainting sensation during pregnancy are:

• In the initial stages of pregnancy, the blood volume increases dramatically. The heart rate goes up as well. Due to these sudden changes in the circulatory system, you may sometimes feel faint.
• Increased progesterone levels during pregnancy is another major cause. Progesterone relaxes the blood vessels to prevent high blood pressure. But, this relaxation slows the blood circulation in your body. This may make you feel faint in situations such as standing up suddenly.
• Towards the final stages, the expanding uterus places more pressure on your blood vessels.
• If your body temperature rises and causes your body to get overheated, the blood vessels get dilated and move towards your skin. This diversion of blood away from the brain and towards your skin can cause dizziness.

Prevention

You can prevent feeling faint by adopting the following measures:

• Take a cool shower so that your body does not get overheated.
• Deep abdominal breathing helps to completely oxygenate your blood.
• Do not skip your meals. This may result in lowering your blood sugar levels.
• Avoid getting dehydrated.
• Do not remain in the same position for an extended period of time. Make sure that you can move around and can take rest if needed.
• Consult your doctor to check if you are suffering from anemia. This is common during pregnancy. Your doctor may advise a change of diet or an intake of iron supplements.
• Lie down on your left side to increase the blood flow to your heart.
• If you are seated, do not stand up very fast. When seated blood tends to pool in the legs. When we stand up suddenly the amount of blood returning from the legs to the heart decreases momentarily and can result in a low blood pressure which causes fainting.

Treatment

You can try the following tips to treat yourself from feeling faint:

• To avoid falling down while feeling faint, lie down on your left side with your feet raised. Lying down on this side increases the amount of blood to your heart and brain. If you cannot lie down, sit down and rest your head in between your knees.
• Drink lots of liquid to keep yourself hydrated and also to prevent your body from overheating.