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  • What are they? Breathe Right Nasal Strips
  • Why I love them: They offer a non-medicated, safe way to ease nasal congestion during pregnancy.
  • How much are they? $7 for 30
  • Where to buy them: Amazon

You know that swollen feet and heartburn are common pregnancy side effects, but many women — myself included — also get stuffy noses during pregnancy. We’re talking can’t breathe through your nostrils, super dry nasal passages and it-gets-worse-at-night-type-of congestion. And, of course, because you're pregnant, cold meds are off limits. So what’s an expecting mama to do?

For me, because my congestion was the worst when I would lay down to go to sleep and gravity would do it’s thing, I found a few solutions that made things better. First, before bedtime, I would turn on my cool-mist humidifier and use a saline nose spray to keep my nasal passages moist as the dryness (both in the air and in my nose) always made the irritation worse.

Then I would pop on a Breathe Right Nasal Strip ($7 for 30 on Amazon). You may have seen these before on football players as they sit on the sidelines. These non-medicated self-adhesive stickers work by gently opening your nasal passages — the brand claims up to 31 percent — so you can breathe better. They’re also said to help with snoring.

"The Breathe Right Strips are great for helping pregnant patients with stuffy noses," says Jennifer Wu, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., a board-certified OB/GYN and member of the What to Expect Medical Review Board. "They really help with sleep and clearer nasal passages."

While these strips didn’t completely erase my congestion, they did help significantly, enough that I was always able to sleep better when I wore them.

A few tips before you order a box: Breathe Right Nasal Strips are available in different sizes. I found the small/medium to be a better fit and, therefore, more effective than the large. They come in tan or clear; for me, the tan option stuck on better than the clear. I also avoided moisturizing around the bridge of my nose at bedtime. Apply it across the middle of your nose, not on the bridge, for best results.

Unfortunately, stuffy noses aren’t one of those pregnancy side effects that goes away in the third trimester, or even immediately after you give birth. In fact, mine got worse the first few nights after I had my kids. My advice? Pack a few in your hospital bag for easy breathing postpartum. 

See more: Starting at $7 on Amazon