Common Pregnancy Discomforts & Finding Comfort

Feb 1

Written by christy smith

A comfort guide for pregnancy

Common Pregnancy Discomforts & Finding Comfort

What's going on in your body, what tends to help, and when to check in with your provider

Part 6 of 7

By Christy, Holding Space: Doula Services · February 2026

Trust your body. It will tell you what it needs.

Pregnancy asks a lot of you. Your hormones shift, your blood volume grows, and your organs make room for a whole new person. Some of that shows up as aches, queasiness, and exhaustion. Most of it is normal, and almost all of it is temporary. That doesn't make it any less uncomfortable while you're in it.

I've gathered the discomforts I hear about most often, along with the comfort measures that have helped the families I support. Take what's useful and leave the rest. If you're in those early weeks, my post Thriving in the First Trimester is a good companion to this one.

Start here

Three Things That Help With Almost Everything

You'll see these come up again and again below. If you only remember three things, make it these.

Hydrate

Aim for about 2 liters of water a day, with added electrolytes. It's a habit worth building now, because it carries you through pregnancy and into feeding your baby.

Rest

Until the early nausea and exhaustion lift, try to build in a 15-minute break every 2 to 3 hours. When you start feeling like yourself again, that's your green light to pick back up.

Eat often

Snack every hour or two and include protein. Low blood sugar is behind a lot of nausea and headaches.

Part one

Early Pregnancy

The first trimester is when your pregnancy is establishing itself, and your body is working incredibly hard, even if no one can see it yet.

Fatigue

About weeks 4–12

Your body is spending a huge amount of energy building a placenta and a baby, and it wants you resting. Pushing through the exhaustion often makes nausea and headaches worse. It's okay to put your exercise routine on hold until the tiredness lifts.

What helps

Rest as often as you can.
Ask for help with household and childcare tasks.
Eat well and make room for self care.
Remember that you don't have to do everything.

Morning sickness

About weeks 4–15

Despite the name, nausea and vomiting can happen at any time of day. Hormonal changes and low blood sugar are thought to be the main causes. For most people it eases after the first trimester.

If your prenatal vitamin is making you queasy, ask your provider about alternatives, like an herbal infusion, until the nausea lets up. Supplements are meant to add to good nutrition. If yours make you too sick to eat, they aren't doing the job you need them to.

What helps

Sip water all day, and get medical help if you become dehydrated.
Let yourself rest.
Snack every hour or two, with protein.
Keep easy snacks by the bed for middle-of-the-night wake-ups: sips of smoothie, a cheese stick, or a quarter of a nut butter sandwich.
If cooking smells set you off, step out while someone else cooks, or have a friend or family member make meals at their place. Activate your community!
Treat yourself to acupuncture. It can do wonders for morning (or all-day) sickness.

Comfort foods that often go down easy

Baked potato with butter or sour creamRice or polenta with ghee, butter, coconut milk or stockMac and cheeseToast with butter, ghee, or nut butter and honeySweet potatoesOat porridgeOrangesBagels and cream cheeseTortillas with any topping that sounds goodDates stuffed with ghee or nut butter, topped with cardamomSmoothies with some fat and proteinFresh lemonade, with ginger if you likeGinger candies or teaMint or red raspberry leaf teaPopsicles made from tea, juice or smoothies

Try not to stress. If what you can keep down is limited for the first 12 weeks, your body is still drawing on the nourishment you built up in the months before you got pregnant.

Hyperemesis gravidarum

Get help

Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is extreme, persistent nausea and vomiting that can lead to dehydration, weight loss, and electrolyte imbalances. With typical morning sickness, people can usually still eat and drink some of the time. HG is much more severe.

Call your provider if you have

Severe nausea and vomiting that won't let up
Much more saliva than usual
Weight loss
Signs of dehydration: dark urine, dry skin, weakness, lightheadedness or fainting
No fluids staying down for more than 12 hours
Blood in your vomit
Abdominal pain
Constipation along with the symptoms above

Please don't wait it out. Treatment usually includes IV fluids and anti-nausea medication, and it can make a world of difference.

Headaches

First trimester

Changes in your hormones and circulation make headaches common early on. If you get headaches or migraines when you're not pregnant, they may pick up for a while.

What helps

Listen to your body and don't push past your energy.
Rest and nap often.
Hydrate with water and electrolytes. Coconut water is great, and sugary drinks are best avoided.
Snack every hour or two, with protein.
If quitting caffeine cold turkey hurts, a small coffee or tea a day while you wean off over a week or two can help.

Call your providerfor a severe headache that won't go away, especially later in pregnancy or with vision changes.

Constipation

Early pregnancy

Digestion slows down in pregnancy, and your body needs more fluid than usual, which can leave stool dry and hard.

What helps

Hydrate with water and electrolytes.
Look at your iron supplement. It's a common culprit, and a food-based brand may be easier on your body.
Try 3 to 6 dried apricots or prunes a day, or steamed or roasted beets.

Chest changes

Often one of the first signs

A surge of hormones starts growing your milk ducts right away. This tends to be more intense in a first pregnancy than in later ones.

You may feel soreness, swelling, tingling, warmth, throbbing, or tenderness to the touch. It usually eases in the second trimester.
Your areolas may get bigger and darker, and the veins in your chest may be easier to see.
Some people leak a little sticky fluid. Some don't. Both are normal.
Many people go up about 2 sizes by the end of pregnancy, but some don't grow at all and still go on to make plenty of milk.

If you're nursingYou'll likely feel that early soreness and may not want to be touched for a while. Your milk also changes early in pregnancy, and your little one may notice less volume and a new flavor. Some children wean on their own, and some keep nursing just for comfort. Chestfeeding is a relationship, and it needs to work for both of you.

Needing to pee all the time

First & third trimesters

Hormones and a growing uterus pressing on your bladder will send you to the bathroom often in the first trimester. You'll get a break in the second trimester when your uterus rises out of the pelvis. Then, once baby drops near the end, you may find yourself planning your day around where the closest bathrooms are!

You don't have to do everything.

Your body is building a new human. Resting is part of the work.

Part two

Any Time in Pregnancy

These can show up early, late, or anywhere in between.

Joint & pelvic instability

Hormonal changes

Pregnancy hormones loosen your ligaments to make room for baby, which can leave your joints and pelvis feeling less steady.

What helps

Move slowly.
Take care getting in and out of the car, bed, and bath.
Rotate and stretch your hips on a birth ball.
Work with a pelvic floor physical therapist.

Heartburn

Very common

Most pregnant people get heartburn at some point. Progesterone relaxes smooth muscle, including the valve at the top of your stomach that normally keeps acid where it belongs. On top of that, your growing uterus crowds your stomach and can push acid upward.

What helps

Eat smaller meals that are gentle on your stomach, and go easy on fatty and spicy foods.
Drink less with meals. Extra liquid dilutes your digestive juices and can slow digestion.
Sip a little raw apple cider vinegar in water.
Take a walk after meals. Even 5 minutes helps digestion along.
Try digestive enzymes, like papaya enzymes or a combination enzyme. They work alongside your own digestion and are usually gentle. Check with your provider before starting any new supplement.

TUMS isn't my first choice. It's an antacid, so it neutralizes acid rather than helping you digest, and the calcium in it isn't the form your body uses most easily. If you're thinking about TUMS or another antacid, look into it and talk with your provider about what fits you.

Bleeding gums

Hormones & blood volume

More blood volume and shifting hormones make your gums softer and puffier, so they may bleed when you brush or floss. Many people find that adding 500–1,000 mg a day of bioavailable vitamin C with bioflavonoids helps. Run it by your provider first.

Round ligament pain

As your belly grows

Two ligaments on either side of your uterus attach down into your groin. As your uterus grows, they stretch and can cramp, causing twitches or a sharp pain low on one or both sides. It can be quite a shock, but it lasts only seconds to a couple of minutes. Coughing, laughing, or standing up quickly can set it off.

What helps

Lean into it and breathe. It usually passes quickly.
Bend and flex your hips to ease the pull.
Use a hot water bottle or warm bath for lingering soreness.

Call your providerif the pain doesn't ease with breathing, stretching, and heat.

Hemorrhoids & varicose veins

Blood volume & pressure

More blood volume, plus progesterone relaxing your veins, can leave some veins swollen. Legs are the most common spot, and less often the vulva. Hemorrhoids are varicose veins of the rectum, helped along by the extra weight and pressure of pregnancy. Most shrink a lot within three months after birth, though a few veins may stay a little more visible.

What helps

Stay hydrated. Straining from constipation makes them more likely.
Put your feet on a footstool when you poop. That squat-like position is a great lifelong habit.
Change positions often instead of sitting or standing for long stretches.
Move your body regularly.
Put your legs up a few times a day.
Wear compression socks, especially on long days on your feet.

Shortness of breath

Changes by trimester

Feeling a little winded is common, and the reason changes as you go.

First trimesterHormones relax the muscles of your lungs and airways, so filling your lungs takes more effort.
Second trimesterYour brain prompts you to breathe deeper and more often, bringing in more oxygen for you and baby.
Third trimesterYour growing uterus presses up on your diaphragm and ribs, leaving less room for your lungs. The hormone relaxin is what lets everything shift to make that space.
Final weeksWhen baby drops into your pelvis, your lungs get room again and many people breathe easier.

Call your provider or get care right awayif breathlessness comes on suddenly or is severe, or if you have chest pain.

Pelvic floor health

Pregnancy & postpartum

Extra weight and pressure on your pelvic floor can bring leaking, heaviness, or discomfort. These can be normal, but they're worth paying attention to if they keep getting in the way of daily life.

"Just do your kegels" is an oversimplification that can sometimes do more harm than good. In many countries, seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist during pregnancy and postpartum is standard care. It isn't yet in the US, but if you can, the extra support can make a real difference.

Part three

Later Pregnancy

As baby grows and your blood volume peaks, a new set of discomforts tends to arrive.

Swelling (edema)

Big jump at 28–32 weeks

By the end of pregnancy your blood volume grows by 50–60%, with a big expansion around 28 to 32 weeks. Looking and feeling puffy is a sign of a healthy pregnancy. Your rings may need to come off for a while, and your shoes may not fit.

In the last trimester, your feet and ankles may be very swollen by the end of the day. That's within normal, even though it's uncomfortable. Normal swelling goes down after 30 minutes to an hour with your legs up, and it's less noticeable when you first wake up.

Call your provider if you notice

Swelling that comes on fast, especially in your chest, face, or hands
Sudden, unexplained weight gain
A headache that won't go away, vision changes, or pain under your right ribs

These can be warning signs of preeclampsia, which needs care right away.

What helps

Get up, stretch, and walk every 20–30 minutes, even just to the bathroom and back. An alarm can help until it's a habit.
Put your feet up for 30 minutes to an hour, once or twice a day.
Hydrate with water and electrolytes.
Salt your food to taste. Salt helps keep fluid in your bloodstream instead of letting it seep into your tissues.
Get in cool water, like a bath or pool, to help move fluid around.
Rub peppermint oil on the soles of your feet.
Use ice packs on your feet and ankles.
Put on compression socks or tights before you get out of bed.

Leg cramps

Often at night

Charley horses are common in pregnancy and love to wake you from a sound sleep.

What helps

Add a serving of magnesium, or calcium with magnesium, before bed. Bonus: it can help with constipation too!
Stay hydrated and get enough salt each day.
Soak in a bath with 1–2 cups of epsom salts before bed. It helps you sleep, too.
Eat a banana before bed.

Practice contractions

Braxton Hicks

Practice contractions tighten your belly without changing your cervix. They can be uncomfortable, but they're your uterus warming up.

Call your providerif contractions become regular, stronger, or painful before 37 weeks, or come with bleeding or leaking fluid.

Lower back pain

More common late

Your growing uterus pulls down and forward on your lower spine. Relaxin also loosens your ligaments, so your joints are less stable and more easily strained. It's most common late in pregnancy but can happen any time.

What helps

Good posture and pelvic alignmentChiropractic careSupportive seating and bolstersPillows for sleep and restSwimmingPrenatal yogaCat-cow or pelvic rocks through the dayAvoiding reclined positions late in pregnancyA pregnancy support bandGentle exercise and stretchingMassage

A question I hear a lot

"Why am I told not to lie on my back?"

After about 20 weeks, the weight of your uterus and baby can press on the inferior vena cava, the large vein that carries blood back to your heart. That can lower your blood pressure, and some people feel dizzy or nauseous on their backs. Your body is good at telling you to move when this happens, so if lying on your back feels fine during the day, you're listening to your body.

Sleep is a little different. Research has linked going to sleep on your back in the third trimester (after about 28 weeks) with a higher risk of stillbirth, so current guidance is to go to sleep on your side from then on, for naps too. Either side is fine, and a pillow behind your back can help you stay there.

If you wake up on your back, don't panic. Just roll onto your side. It's the position you fall asleep in that matters most.

If you take medications or use alcohol or other substances, your body's "time to move" signals may not wake you, so it's a good idea to avoid lying on your back altogether.

Keep reading · Part 6 of 7

← PreviousThriving in the First Trimester Up next →Common Complications

From the space I hold....

Being uncomfortable doesn't mean something is wrong, and it doesn't mean you have to just tough it out. You deserve comfort and care through every stage of this. Rest when you can, ask for help, and trust what your body is telling you. If you'd like support finding what works for you, I'm here.

Reach out to Christy

christy smith https://www.holdingspacenc.com