So now it seems I shouldn't sleep on my right side.

[McPhee]

The only comfortable position known to man right now. According to my midwife, it compromises blood flow, so obviously I won't carry on doing it. But arrrgggghhhh it's going to take ages to retrain myself to sleep on my left. Has anyone else been told this??

bloody hell since when? dd is only 11 months and i was told not to sleep on my back while pregnant

Yes I heard that too and it is the only side I can get comfy on too!!!! Am 32 weeks. When I sleep on my left side I get breathless!! So actually my right side is the only way I can sleep atm!

I don't know, but I've looked it up. Not that I didn't believe her, but I needed to read it for myself, and yeah I saw the bit about not sleeping on your back. Right now, I am right royally fucked for sleep.

Apparently there's been a link to stillbirth

I spent my last month not sleeping upright. If I lay down I couldn't get back up again.

Ironically when the babies arrived I would have been able to sleep standing up I they hadn't been screaming constantly.

My midwife didn't tell me this but she is fairly laid back and when I asked about it, said that there is little evidence to support the claim made by American research:

Sorry for the DM article

This just shows the scaremongering. I know it can happen, but there are an awful lot of other factors that lead to stillbirths :(

FWIW, my midwife says I'm ok sleeping on my back still at 38+3. Different people say different things but women have been having babies for a bagillion years and they never had this much 'information'.

Yes - your midwife is right .

Have you tried a long pregnancy pillow btw?
I found they helped me to be more comfy on my left .

Oh bugger - I thought it was OK to sleep to on either side, just not on your back because of the uterus pressing on the vena cava? So it has to be the left does it?

The long pregnancy pillow is brilliant........on my right. My problem is I have a condition which cause numbness and pain in my left thigh, hence me now being in a spot of bother for sleep. BUT..if that's how it is then that's how it is.

I don't worry about it anymore. I'm sure a good night's sleep is better for me and my pregnancy than a bad night's sleep so I lie however I'm most comfortable. To be honest I generally wake up in a different position to the one I went to sleep in anyway so it's not entirely in my control.

It's physically impossible to lie on one side all night. Your hip starts to ache no matter how many pillows you use. For last and this pregnancy I didn't stress over it and turned from left to back to right to left and all over again in every combination. You get to a point where any sleep is good, and I get numb hips and numb legs and NEED to turn and move. It's just another silly thing of guidance that is overkill. And not helpful

I can only sleep on my right at the minute. My MW says its fine. She said its only sleeping on your back they really worry about. It's due to the baby squashing a nerve towards end of pregnancy.

It's quite annoying actually as before I got pregnant I would always sleep on my left.

Asked my MW about waking up on my back and she said sleeping on your back is ok as long as your head is on a pillow, so slightly elevated. She seemed to advocate the 'get a good night's sleep' line of thought as well. Give sleeping in other ways a go, but don't stress if you revert to your right.

Well here goes...god speed girls!

Yes I've heard that too. I kind of trained myself to sleep on the left during last pregnancy - DH is there on the left so I just go and get a cuddle

I can't sleep on my left. I can't sleep on my back. I can't sleep on my front.

However, my right hand side is perfect for sleeping comfortably on.

I can either sleep on my right hand side, or not at all, and I don't fancy not sleeping until April.

I'm trying to sleep on my left side but have always slept on my back and so wake up on my back several times a night. I seem to throw pillows out of the bed in my sleep no matter how carefully I arrange them to keep me on MT left

That should read my left

I've heard left side is best, right second best. I sleep on my back propped up sitting -- I've got SPD and lying on my side is absolute agony! The midwife said do what works, and that if I start waking up breathless or lightheaded, I'm too much on my back and try tilting to one side or sitting more upright.

the increased chance of still birth is tiny, the study also found that if you didn't get up to wee more than once in the night your risk was also increased, however biggest risks remain weight and lifestyle habits,

In an accompanying editorial, Lucy C. Chappell, PhD, clinical senior lecturer in maternal and fetal medicine, King's College London, United Kingdom, and Gordon C.S. Smith, MD, PhD, professor and head, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, said the study results are not strong enough to warrant a forceful campaign urging pregnant women to sleep on their left side.

"Although the message for mothers to sleep on their left is probably harmless and may be helpful, this study should be seen as one that only generates a hypothesis that needs validation."

the study itself took 156 women who had had a stillbirth and 300 who hadn't and asked them a series of question one of which was what side did you sleep on.

I am 23 wks and spend the night turning from one position to another. I actually have no idea what I'm doing when I'm asleep and have given up worrying about it. Mostly I wake up on my back spreadeagled out arms and l egs everywhere. This is my second baby and I never even remember hearing anything about all this with my first nearly 9 yrs ago!

I slept on my right side for most of my pregnancy (once I got too big to sleep on my stomach) as they're the only two ways I can sleep. Nowt wrong with my blood.

I was told that sleeping on the left was more about encouraging the baby into a good position then cutting of blood supply. Even with sleeping on your back if there is a restriction to blood supply then you will know about it and move. My midwife and my ante-natal teacher both said not to worry about it too much and just make sure I moved position if I felt light headed.

I panicked about this when the mw told me, so I went back and read the original study. There was actually no difference between sleeping on your right or your left sides, but a big difference if you slept on your back. So either side is fine.

Per my Obs, sleep in whatever position you like. You'll wake yourself up in discomfort before you do the baby any harm.