With the onset of pregnancy, a woman should pay special attention to the medicines and supplements that she consumes. Melatonin is no exception.
Why Do Women Take Melatonin?
Melatonin has just recently become a popular supplement for individuals who want to sleep much better. It likewise plays a role in reproductive health. Nevertheless, research is unclear about whether melatonin is actually safe to take while pregnant.
Melatonin is a hormone that your body produces naturally. Among other things, it’s accountable for keeping your body clock on a 24-hour cycle. This cycle is the circadian rhythm that ensures you sleep in the evening and wake up in the morning. Often people try taking extra supplements of melatonin to improve their quality of sleep.
Both the ovaries and placenta make high levels of melatonin and use the hormone throughout pregnancy and delivery. Melatonin levels increase significantly at 24 weeks of pregnancy and rise even more once again after 32 weeks.
Melatonin deals with oxytocin to promote labor and shipment. Melatonin levels are higher are night, which might be why numerous women enter into labor at night and early morning.
Melatonin is also found in amniotic fluid, and babies depend on their mom’s melatonin supply while they remain in utero and until 9– 12 weeks after they are born. So, melatonin supplements can impact both a woman and her baby.
Keep reading to learn more about the benefits and threats of melatonin in pregnancy.
Is It Safe to Take Melatonin While Pregnant
Your body makes its own melatonin all the time. Whether you should take additional supplements is disputed. Just because something is natural doesn’t mean it’s totally safe. If you take melatonin supplements, tell your medical professional so they can be familiar with any prospective issues.
Melatonin hasn’t been shown safe in pregnancy, and there is no standard dose, which makes it tricky to buy off the shelf and take on your own.
Melatonin is considered safe for short-term use, but its long-lasting impacts have not been studied.
One animal study found that extra melatonin during pregnancy adversely impacted maternal weight, baby birth weight, and baby death.
Prospective side effects consist of:
- drowsiness
- nausea
- headache
- lightheadedness
