Avoiding & Treating Leg Cramps During Pregnancy

With more baby weight to carry around every day, and the thought of delivery looming before you, you may find yourself getting tired more easily during the third trimester. You settle down for an early night, snuggle up for a good nights sleep...and wake up an hour later with a horrible leg cramp.

If you haven't started having leg cramps yet, there's a good chance that you'll suffer from them at some point before your baby is born. There are three main reasons why pregnant women are more susceptible to muscle cramps, especially in their legs.

1. By your third trimester, your uterus and the baby are big enough to take up a lot of room inside you and start pushing your organs and things around. You've probably been told before to try to avoid lying on your back. One of the reasons why is that the uterus will press down on the nerves going down to your legs. So if you're waking up with leg cramps, there's a good chance that you rolled onto your back during your sleep.

Although you can't control all of your movements when you sleep, trying to stay in a position on your side (ideally you should sleep and rest on your left side) will help. Putting a pillow between your legs can also help prevent leg cramps and keep you in a good sleeping position. During the day, make sure to avoid lying down on your back, and try not to lounge back too far when sitting down, as this can have a similar effect.

2. Leg cramps can also be caused by the excess or lack of nutrients. Too much phosphorus in your diet can contribute to muscle cramps, so try to avoid foods with excess levels of phosphorus. The worst are carbonated drinks, which are not very good for you and should generally be avoided during pregnancy anyway. For a list of foods high in phosphorus, click here.

A deficiency in potassium or calcium can also lead to leg cramps. As your growing baby needs high levels of these nutrients, there is a good chance that they are going to your baby and your body is left lacking. Taking a daily pregnancy supplement can help (make sure to get one specially formulated for pregnancy), as can adding more potassium and calcium to your diet. Drinking a glass of milk before bed might help. For more information on incorporating these nutrients into your diet, click here.

3. Being pregnant is hard work! Your body is constantly changing and being filled with high levels of hormones. Your blood flow is increased, giving your heart an increased work-load. Your increased body mass, combined with a changed centre of gravity, puts extra strain on the muscles in your back and legs. To put it simply: you could be getting cramps because your legs are tired.

To avoid leg cramps, try to keep your legs from becoming over-tired. Avoid standing, especially in the same position, for long periods of time. Try not to carry anything unnecessarily, as this will only increase the strain on your body. If you can, find a few minutes to rest each day. This could be by putting your feet up during your lunch break at work, or lying down (and maybe taking a nap yourself) during your older child/children's nap time.