When we think about sleep during pregnancy, we generally think about those restless nights of leg pain, bladder pressure, and generally uncomfortable and interrupted sleep. However, there are some women who experience problems on the other end of the sleep spectrum during pregnancy. While it isn’t especially common, it is possible to get too much sleep during pregnancy.

Having said that, it is very rare for a person ever to sleep too much. Generally, the body knows how long it needs to sleep, and will be awake when it is no longer tired. There are, of course, things that can affect this sleep balance. For example, when a person is depressed, they are more likely to sleep more than usual. During pregnancy, the increase of the hormone progesterone can, similarly, have a sedative effect on a woman. This might lead her to be more tired during the day, and perhaps nap when she might not otherwise have napped. Still, even in this scenario, a woman is more likely to find that, if she is napping more than usual during the day that she will sleep less at night.

There is another thing that can lead to a woman feeling like she is getting too much sleep during pregnancy. The fact of the matter is that pregnancy is fatiguing to the body. This fatigue can make a woman feel tired, and can lead to deeper and longer sleep than she otherwise might have. Indeed, some degree of extra sleep is normal during pregnancy; experts estimate that the average woman actually needs somewhere between 30 and 90 more minutes of sleep during pregnancy than she needed prior to pregnancy.

If you are concerned that you are sleeping too much during pregnancy, you should speak with your health care provider. Your health care provider may be able to help diagnose any problems that might be causing you to sleep too much during pregnancy, and help you to know how to treat those problems.

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