Ambien and Pregnancy – Appropriate Precautions

Pregnancy always tends to cause sleeping issues, and unless you’re prepared for them, it can be somewhat difficult to get through. Night after night you’re kept awake by the same things - symptoms all related to your pregnancy situation.

Many women’s first decision is to vouch for sleep-aiding medications – like Ambien. But does that really help? Or do the dangers related to using such drugs outweigh the benefits gained from them? Science isn’t sure yet – that’s the truth.

Lack of testing

Sleep-aiding medications haven’t been tested on pregnant human women. This is mainly due to the fact that similar tests in animals – mostly rats – have proved to be dangerous for the child being carried by the mother, and has in many cases resulted in birth defects, among other anomalies.

What we know

Some medical tests have suggested with very strong certainty that Ambien is able to reach the unborn baby in humans, judging from residue of the drug in tissue close to the baby.

Testing on animals concluded that using the drug in moderate doses does not produce any side effects – but again, this is only valid for rats. In high doses, the baby was born with severe deformations, and this caused researchers to deem the drug completely unacceptable as a solution for pregnant women.

Rabbits were also used in testing the medication, and similarly negative results were observed, which further reinforces the idea that this is a bad choice for women in pregnancy – regardless of the lack of testing in humans, the results from animal testing are more than enough to draw solid conclusions.

What can I do?

So, back to the basic question – if you’re a woman in pregnancy and want to get some sleeping aid, what can you do? You should rely on natural solutions as much as you can. Use whatever aids you know that don’t involve buying drugs or medications – even the good old trick of drinking warm milk before going to bed will do you some good in relieving the insomnia – plus it can be good for the baby. Remember that humans also tend to feel sleepy after a good meal, which will help your baby develop better as well, so try to combine your eating habits with your sleeping schedule and see if you’ll get an improvement – just try not to eat too much, as you may experience digestion problems during the night.