Headaches During Pregnancy

Tension, stress, hormones, dehydration, caffeine withdrawal…  There are so many potential culprits behind those persistent, pregnancy-related headaches.  Headaches during pregnancy are a common ailment that typically peak during the first trimester, but it’s not uncommon to experience headaches throughout the entire duration of your pregnancy.  Now that I’ve given you the potentially not-so-awesome news, here’s the good news.  Headaches usually aren’t indicative of a serious underlying problem.  #Winning!  With that said, if your headaches aren’t manageable and you are suffering from them more days than not, you do want to be sure to bring them to the attention of your care provider. Better safe than sorry is a great policy to subscribe to, especially when it’s your health we’re talking about.  And as always, these suggestions are not to be construed as medical advice and are merely suggestions from my own experience.  Please discuss any frequent, recurring, severe or unmanageable headaches with your care provider.

Try: Mini Can of Coke + A Green Apple

Don’t ask me why this combination works but for those headaches that just won’t quit try drinking a mini can of coke and eating a green apple.  Is it the combination of carbs + sugar + caffeine that makes this remedy so effective?  Who knows and who cares – the only part that really matters is that it works.

Try: Extra Strength Tylenol

For the days where regular ole’ Tylenol just isn’t getting the job done, upgrade to extra strength.  Extra strength Tylenol is safe for use during pregnancy.  Please read the label on your specific bottle, or speak with your care provider, for dosage directions.

Try: Tylenol with Coffee

If your Tylenol on it’s own isn’t getting the job done and you want a gateway option before popping extra strength, try taking your regular dose Tylenol with a little bit of coffee.  It is said that the caffeine in the coffee works to dilate blood vessels in your head which helps to relieve that pressure.  Can’t stomach coffee?  Use another caffeine source. Maybe not energy drink strength though.

Try: Upping Your H20 Intake… And then some

You’ll quickly learn that this is basically THE go-to answer for almost any pregnancy related grievance but the importance of sufficient hydration during pregnancy cannot be stressed enough.  From my experience, even if you think you’re definitely drinking enough water, you aren’t (sorry).  The analogy I always use is to “flood your body” with water.  And if that isn’t clear enough and you need a measurable goal, aim for 4 litres of water a day and then try to get in, well, more.

Try: Peppermint Oil

Just a small dab of peppermint oil on your temples and the back of your neck should do the trick.  As always, before apply any essential oil to your body, make sure you can actually stand the smell first – because once it’s applied, there’s no getting it off until you get into the shower. As a side note, do not use peppermint oil if you are breastfeeding.

Try: Magnesium

Magnesium is the nutrient those of us in North America are most deficient in and being magnesium deficient can cause a few issues.  One of them being – you guessed it – headaches!  85% chocolate is a great food source of magnesium but if you’re looking to simplify your life (and want to save your chocolate consumption for chocolate you actually enjoy…), magnesium supplements are available in powder or capsule form.

Try: Bringin’ the Heat

Honestly, is there anything heat can’t fix?  Don’t answer that, there are definitely some things that cannot be cured by heat.  Anyways, here’s one way heat can help! Apply a hot water bottle or a heating pad to the back of your neck.

Try: Hot + Cold Therapy

Place a cold compress on the back of your neck and submerge your feet in warm water.  Listen, I won’t pretend to know why this works but I suspect it has something to do with sending conflicting signals to the nerves in these areas that gives your body something else to focus on other than the headache.   With that being said, I know many people who have tried this with success.

Try: Massage/Chiro

Not just a frivolity!  There are real health benefits to making massage and chiropractor a regular part of your wellness routine.  One of them being that their body-work through touch and proper ailment can relieve your headaches by easing any tension that has built up in your body.  It’s important to see a registered massage therapist or chiropractor who has experience working on pregnant women.

Secrets to Shortening Your Labour (BEFORE it Begins!)

What can I say? Nothing motivates me to sit down and blog more than having my kids home for Springbreak 🤪 Interested in potentially shaving some time off your overall birth? There’s not shame in that, sister. Most of us are! Well, here are some proactive steps you can take, before your birth begins, to maybe, just maybe, make that happen!

Red Raspberry Leaf

When taken prenatally, red raspberry leaf has been shown to help strengthen and tone the uterus. It is most commonly consumed via capsule or tea - although capsule is said to be a more potent (read: effective) dosage. You might be thinking “A tea? To shorten my labour? “ Sounds weird, right? Not so weird when you consider that red raspberry leaf works as a uterine toner. In other words, it strengthens your uterus and subsequent contractions. And a strong uterus is an efficient uterus!

Dates

The research on dates to shorten labour is actually pretty impressive. Studies have found that those who ate 6 dates daily from 36 weeks had, pretty significantly, shorter labours than their non-date-eating counterparts. They also had a higher instance of spontaneous labour onset! If you’re like me and can’t stand the taste, you can mask the taste by blending them up in your daily smoothie!

Exercise

As a doula, I always get a little giddy when I work with a client who is committed to exercising both throughout her pregnancy and during the lead up to her birth. I have seen, first-hand, the benefits of women who maintained their fitness during pregnancy and how that positively impacted their births (highly recommend!). And studies have found that women who maintained regular antenatal exercise can shorten their labour by up to one hour. Plus, there are all the other residual benefits of maintaining your exercise program during pregnancy: less likely to be diagnosed with gestational diabetes, more physical comfort during pregnancy, healthy weight gain, better sleep during pregnancy; more stamina for labour, more likely to have a spontaneous onset of labour, less likely to need a cesarean, less likely to use pharmaceuticals - and all the other things that come along with those!

Your Little Passenger’s Position

It’s more than just head down, people. Some birth basics: part of the labour process involves the rotation of the baby to a position that is considered “optimal” for birth (your baby’s head is facing your back, their chin will be tucked). And to be fair, it is this position that nearly all babies end up in order to facilitate their subsequent birth. But… what if babe STARTS labour already in that optimal position? A-ha moment, right? Starting your labour with babe already in that optimal position will mean you don’t have to spend the time labouring while baby rotates. The end result is going to be a shorter, likely easier, labour. Read my post How to Help a Posterior Babe Rotate Before Birth Begins for tips and tricks to get your baby into an optimal position before your birth starts.

Chiro Adjustments

Spend any time reading any of my other birth prep posts and you will notice a recurring theme: regular chiropractic care is a must in the lead up to your delivery. Adjustments, with an experienced chiropractor licensed to work on pregnant bodies, will help with body balancing and creating room in the pelvis to help baby get into that good position pre-birth (if you’re still wondering why that matters, re-read the point above!). For the record, “regular” adjustments equates about 1-2 a week, if you can manage.

Pelvic Floor Therapy

By now you know how significant a role our pelvic floor plays in the birth process. Too tight a pelvic floor and we may baby may have trouble navigating it. So, if t’s a muscle we’re going to depend so heavily on during our births, we really need to A) be familiar with not only its role in the process, where exactly its located within our pelvis and how it functions from a biomechanical standpoint and B) we must be able to connect to it almost as if it’s second-nature. A Pelvic Floor therapist is going to check all these boxes!

Squatting

Ina May Gaskin once said: "squat 300 times a day and you're going to give birth quickly." And while I have questions (Why is 300 the magic number? Does it really have to be 300 squats a day? Where did she get that number from? What happens if it’s only 100 a day?) the fact is that, regardless of the specific number: doing a few sets daily can help lengthen and strengthening your pelvic floor, aligning and opening up your hips AND stretching tight muscles. Plus, there’s a good chance you’ll spend some of your labour in some form of a squat position so, some training beforehand means your muscles are less likely to seize up and fatigue.

Massage Therapy

Regular massage therapy with a registered massage therapist, licensed to work on pregnant bodies, will help promote muscle relaxation. You’ll reap the benefits of these sessions during labour as your body and muscles will be able to relax, and loosen, more quickly, in between labour sensations. Loose muscles means easier passage.

Actively Reduce Birth Anxiety

Stress, or anxiety, causes our adrenaline to spike. And in the birth process, adrenaline is not our friend. Is it because we’re mean people? No. It’s because adrenaline slows labour. Spend time intentionally shaping your mindset as your birth approaches. The easiest way to do this is to learn about birth so that it’s not new, scary territory when you find yourself in it.

Hire a Doula

It’s not even a bias, it’s SCIENCE! Research shows that having a doula attend your birth shaves off, on average, 40 minutes from your birth. You might not think 40 minutes is anything to write home about but, hey, when you're in labour, every minute counts!

There you have it. 10 easy steps that can help you shorten your labour. Before signing off, one last thing I want to do is to encourage you to approach the potential length of your labour with a realistic mindset. The reality is, for the large majority of us, especially first-time birthers, birth is long. While these steps are shown to help reduce some of the time we spend in the labour process, we are not talking about shaving days or hours off of our birth. My suggestion? When your labour starts, approach it as you’re playing a “long game.” Try to refrain from putting any expectations on how long you’ll be “here” for. If anything, assume it will be several days and if it’s less than that - whoop, whoop, bonus!