Sweating During Pregnancy – Reasons & Remedies

By: Bindu Raichura

Pregnancy is a time where a woman’s body undergoes a lot of changes right from day one and sometimes continues to undergo changes even years after delivery. Apart from weight gain, hormonal changes are something one can never skip when they get pregnant. Sweating during pregnancy is one of those highly uncomfortable “changes” a woman has to endure.

Is Sweating During Pregnancy Common?

Are you pregnant? Experiencing more sweating during pregnancy than your usual days? Wondering if everything is alright with you? Don’t worry! You are not alone! Sweating during pregnancy is more common than you think.

Reasons for Sweating During Pregnancy:

When you are pregnant your body experiences hormonal changes right from day one. Your body is preparing and adjusting to support the new life growing inside you. There is an increased blood flow inside you too. All these together, cause sweating during pregnancy.

However, this is not the case with all women. While many women experience sweating during pregnancy, many experience hot flashes postpartum too. Some lucky women don’t experience either! So here are the main reasons:

• Hormonal Changes:

Any increase or dip in hormones can cause you to perspire more than usual.

• Weight Gain:

Increased weight in your body means more effort by your body to do regular work. Extra effort results in more heat generation, resulting in heat flashes and sweating during pregnancy.

Every pregnant woman experiences anxiety at some point or the other. The third trimester has many expectant mothers, on the edge for almost everything. This can cause over sweating during pregnancy.

• Physical Activity:

No we don’t mean your workouts. Even your regular cleaning and walking around can cause you to sweat more when you are pregnant. Your body needs to work harder to carry all the extra weight and balance it all when you go ahead with your regular chores.

• Metabolism:

Your body burns more calories when you are pregnant. The reason is more energy is required to support the life growing inside you and to help you carry on with your routine. This can cause sweating.

• Hyperthyroidism:

Pregnancy causes an increase in thyroid activity. Thus, excessive sweating can be a symptom of hyperthyroidism. This needs to be checked by your doctor and appropriate medications have to be prescribed to get the thyroid levels in check.

• Medication:

The medicines you are consuming for your pregnancy can also cause sweating.

What are Hot Flashes?

When you are pregnant and there is an increased blood flow in your body, you might get too warm suddenly and experience a heatwave. This will last for a few minutes and go away as soon as it comes.

Many women experience hot flashes or a general rise in body temperatures in their third trimester. Sweating during pregnancy in the third trimester is more common than in the initial days.

Though there is not much research in this area, doctors believe and many studies have understood that as the baby grows, the hormonal changes are more, and so the weight the pregnant woman carries is more, which leads to more blood flow. These could be the contributing factors to sweating during pregnancy.

For some women, the drop in hormonal levels after delivery can cause hot flashes at night or even during the day. This tends to occur around the second week after birth. Many women have reported having woken up soaked in sweat, within weeks after delivery. The hormonal fluctuations can make you feel too hot one minute and feel very cold the next.

Is it Normal to Sweat at Night During Pregnancy?

Though sweating during pregnancy is not restricted to the nights, yes, it is very common to sweat at night when you are pregnant.

Sweating is your body’s natural way of regulating the temperature. Though it can be very uncomfortable and downright annoying, do remember that overheating your body is very dangerous for you and the baby.

Sweating During Pregnancy – Does it Signify Boy or Girl?

So, can one judge the gender of the baby based on their sweating during pregnancy? Scientifically, no! But, there are some old wives’ tales that believe you are pregnant with a girl if you are experiencing excessive sweating during pregnancy.

Does Sweating During Pregnancy End Once you Deliver?

Sadly, the answer is no. Postpartum sweating and hot flashes are very common. Once the baby is born, your body stops producing all those extra hormones and this dip can cause you to suddenly start sweating profusely.

Since you cannot really control your hormones or sweating during pregnancy, the only solution is to ensure you take measures to keep the temperature under control. Drinking a lot of fluids to hydrate yourself, wearing light clothing, and staying in well-ventilated areas can help you reduce sweating.

Source: https://www.beingtheparent.com/sweating-during-pregnancy-reasons-remedies/

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