Many expectant moms feel senses of faintness, dizziness, or lightheadedness during pregnancy – these symptoms can occur frequently in a normal, healthy pregnancy.
What causes it?
Dizziness during pregnancy is generally a result of the vast cardiovascular changes occurring during your body over the course of these nine months. The amount of blood in your body can increase by as much as 45%, which makes your heart rate goes up, and dizziness or faintness is often the result. In mid-pregnancy, your blood vessels dilate and blood pressures drops significantly, which could also result in the lightheadedness.
Tips?
Lying on your back and standing up too fast are some of the more common causes of dizziness, so it’s a good idea to try to avoid these if you’re feeling a bit lightheaded. Rather, take your time when making all movements (you’re the one who is pregnant, everybody else can wait on your time!), and try lying on your left side rather than flat on your back. Not getting enough food and water could also cause the dizziness, so try to get plenty of nutrients and hydration in order to avoid these effects as best you can. You should let your healthcare provider know if you are feeling especially dizzy or lightheaded.
Reviewed by the Ovia Health Clinical Team
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Sources
- Sir John Dewhurst. Dewhurst’s Textbook of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 8th ed. Keith Edmonds. John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 2012. Print.
- F Hytten. “Blood volume changes in normal pregnancy.” Clinics in Haemotology. 14(3):601-12. Web. Oct-85.
- P Kristiansson, JX Wang. “Reproductive hormones and blood pressure during pregnancy.” Human Reproduction. Vol.16, No.1 oo. 13-17. Web. 2001.
