Your body undergoes a huge change during pregnancy. Hormonal changes are considered the most important change that affects your body during and after pregnancy. You may start experiencing night time sweats due to hormonal changes after childbirth. Postpartum night sweats are more common than you think. They can make you feel uncomfortable and disrupt your sleep.
What Are the Causes for Postpartum Night Sweats?
Your body requires a high level of the hormones estrogen and progesterone during pregnancy. However, once you deliver the baby, your body no longer needs such high levels of estrogen and progesterone. Your body starts resettling the levels of these hormones. Within a few weeks, your body resets to the pre-pregnancy level. This fluctuation of hormone levels causes night sweats. Postpartum night sweats usually go away on their own without any medical intervention.
How to Cope With Night Sweats After Pregnancy?
Night sweats can make you feel uncomfortable. It will hamper your sleep and make you feel tired, stressed, and emotional. Here are a few things that you can do to cope with night sweats.
- Drink plenty of water to keep you hydrated. If you are breastfeeding then night sweats can reduce the fluid levels in your body and affect the production of milk.
- Turn on the air conditioner to cool down your bedroom. Cooling down the room will make you sweat less.
- Sleep wearing light clothes. Try to wear loose-fitting cotton clothes instead of silk or satin. Cotton clothes are easily breathable and they will not make you sweat, unlike other fabrics.
- Take a cold shower to cool down your body before bed. Alternatively, you can sponge your body with a cold cloth before bedtime.
- Drinking cold water before bedtime will also help you to stay cool.
- Avoid caffeine and spicy food as they can cause more sweating. Especially avoid these foods around dinner time.
Night sweats usually go away on their own. However, if your night sweat is accompanied by chills and fever then it could be a sign of infection. If your night sweat lasts longer than usual, you can ask your doctor to check your blood sugar, blood pressure, and thyroid levels.
