Just been told I'm not to sleep on my back when pregnant !!

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I didn't know this. My bossy freind told me off for doing it, said i am reducing Oxygen supply to my baby

This is 3rd pregnancy and she was shocked that I didn't know. Made me feel really bad too.

If I sleep on side baby gets squashed and wriggles in protest (it seems but might not be,might be my imagination)

And now cant sleep on my back its a nigthmare in the heat isnt it. I will try sleeping standing up tonight

Mind you, i do get breathless if I sleep on my back now. Hope i havnt caused any damage. other two seem ok.

Don't worry too much...I think it's true that the baby does get slightly less oxygen but not so little that it will do any damage. The ideal position to sleep in is on your left side as this is where you want your baby to be for labour and I think it's the best oxygen-wise too. I have slept on my back since the beginning of this pregnancy as it's the only way I can get comfy. I have asked 2 midwives if this is OK and they both said it's fine, just get sleep however you can!

Tell your friend to bugger off, no one can control how they sleep during the night anyway, once you are asleep thats it you will instinctively turn to the most comfortable position.

Now get some rest

I always slept on my right side and found it really hard to get to sleep on the left when I was pregnant. So what I would do was start off the night on my left, and once I'd been on that side for most of the night after returning from one of my many, many loo trips I would finally sleep for a the last bit on my right.

Actually as I got bigger I couldn't breathe on my back anyway!

Depends on where you are in your pregnancy.
Unwell pregnant women in the 3rd Trimester shouldnt lie on their back, because it reduces the venous return and cardiac output of the woman. (Drops blood pressure, which is not good for the woman, and then not good for baby either.)

You will tend to find like seashore that it may actually become too uncomfortable for you to lie on your back later in the pregnancy.
On the other hand, if you feel well, then your baby will feel ok too. Left side lying is the optimum position.
If you lie on your back and become dizzy, feel faint, or giddy, or have difficulty in breathing, then that is your body telling you to change position,.

I slept on my right or my tummy!

Your "friend" is telling you this because as a pregnant woman you must relinquish control of your own body, accept the guilt and know that even when you're sleeping you're "doing it wrong"!

The issue is that the baby's weight can squash your inferior vena cava, which is the large blood vessel returning blood from the lower part of your body to your heart. This can cause your blood pressure to fall which can make you feel sickly, nauseous, light headed, and if your feeling like this baby will be also!
In hospital pregnant ladies are often tilted to the left to prevent this. It doesn't have to be a full lie on the left side but a pillow under the bottom type thing.
Having said that at nearly 27 weeks I'm still lieing on my back sometimes and have yet to feel unwell from doing so. I think you body will tell you to move if you need to.

You might be reducing oxygen supply to you (and therefore the baby as well). A lot of people think only the baby is affected, but you should be affected first and some experts do say that if you're comfy on your back, it's probably fine.

I can't lie on my back for more than a couple of minutes as I get sick and dizzy. It means that I don't sleep like that at all now as I automatically roll onto my side when I start feeling funny.

Sleeping on my back but half on a pillow so I'm at an angle is fine for me - maybe try this?

I'm 38 weeks and still sleeping on my back and it doesn't seem to make me feel funny at all.

I don't like sleeping on my back, it does feel weird now. Apparently the left side is better, but I find it really comfy on my right!

When your body needs you to stop sleeping on your back, it'll let you know. Nobody stops you lying on the sofa with your feet up, do they...

When I was pg with DC4 I went to an early pg physio session.

I entered the session feeling like a well, normal woman who happened to be pg.

I left feeling like I had some sort of terrible health time bomb ticking inside me! It was dreadfully depressing.

Amoung the things they told us was the 'dont lie on your back' thing. The woman running the session said something about affecting your blood supply and oxygen. Then she said 'if its doing that to you, just imagine what it is doing to your little baby!

FFS!

I am very happy to listen to good, relevant advice when pg. I get very pissed off when stuff like this is thrown at women throughout pregnancy.

I was also told I shouldnt drink tea, take paracetamol or lift my arms above my head.

So I just stuck to the Gin and Crack and the kids turned out fine

Forgot - at the same session I was told I shouldnt ever sit on the sofa and should only ever sit on a hard chair.

bja.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/90/1/86

this is what its all about - you only need a 15 degree tilt to reduces aortocaval compression - the big vein/artery (not sure which). your body will compensate though - it will let you know. i was paranoid about this but later on in the pregnancy, it was uncomfortable and made me feel a bit woozy which is probably what they are on about - oxygen unable to travel effectively etc etc

basically, your body will let you know, panic not!