Why do pregnant women feel numb in their arms and hands?

Pregnancy is a unique stage. Every move of the pregnant woman may affect the baby in her belly, so pregnancy care must be careful and serious. At different stages of pregnancy, the focus of medical care is different. What is the reason for numbness in the arms and hands of pregnant women? Let’s take a look at it below.

Pregnant women belong to a relatively special group. If they experience numbness in their arms or hands, they need to be analyzed in depth based on the specific situation. It may be due to physiological factors or some diseases. For example, if the arms and hands are in one posture for a long time and are under pressure, too much wind and cold, too much anxiety and restlessness can cause numbness. Changing your posture and resting for a while can relieve the pain. This is a physiological condition and you don't need to worry too much. You should pay attention to reducing the occurrence of this condition as much as possible. If the numbness in the arms and hands persists and cannot be relieved by rest, it may be caused by some disease and you need to go to the hospital for treatment. Especially for some obese pregnant women, it may be abducens neuropathy caused by gestational diabetes, or compressed tactile nerve diseases such as cervical spondylosis, upper limb trauma, carpal tunnel syndrome, and cubital tunnel syndrome. Or it may be due to some nutritional deficiencies caused by pregnancy, anemia, ischemia and so on.

Key points of medical care in late pregnancy

1. Diversify your diet

At this stage, the need for calories and high-quality protein increases, and these substances should be supplemented in the diet. In addition, some nutrients, such as vitamins, iron, calcium and other minerals, need to be supplemented. The diet can be arranged according to the principle of eating small and frequent meals, 5-6 meals are best. However, there must be a limit to nutritional supplementation. Too much will cause problems such as obesity in pregnant women and oversized fetuses. Here we recommend that women control their weight gain during pregnancy within 30 kilograms.

2. Pay attention to your activity posture

(1) When walking, you should keep your head up, back straight, neck upright, and hips tucked in to maintain your body balance.

(2) When sitting, try to sit on a table or chair with an upright back instead of a low fabric sofa. Keep your back straight, use your legs to sit up slowly, and then adjust your posture so that your back and buttocks can rest comfortably on the backrest with your feet resting.

(3) To stand up, first move your upper body to the front of the chair, then place your hands on the table, use your legs to support your body and stand up slowly, keeping your back straight. That will prevent you from leaning forward and engaging your latissimus dorsi.

(4) When standing up, keep your back straight and naturally flexed and extended, and use the strength of the thigh roots, buttocks and waist muscles to support the weight of the abdomen, effectively avoiding back pain caused by standing for a long time.

3. Pay attention to your sleeping posture

Sleeping posture not only affects sleep, but also continues to affect the growth and development of the fetus during this special stage of pregnancy. Avoid lying on your back for a long time, because it will increase the pressure of the uterus on the inferior vena cava, which is not conducive to the development of the baby. Experts suggest that lying on the left side is the most suitable sleeping posture for pregnant women. When you wake up, sit slowly to prevent your abdominal muscles from becoming tense. If you were lying on your back when you wake up, you should slowly change your position to side sleeping, lean your shoulders forward, bend your knees, use your elbows and arms to support your body, move to the front of the bed, and then sit up.