Sleeping positions and still birth.

[Bellyrub1980]

Is anyone else struggling with left side lying??

Quite simply, I hate it!! I find it really uncomfortable and have lost hours and hours of sleep trying to persevere with it. I'm normally a tummy sleeper so side lying is totally unnatural for me but right side lying is 'doable'. For some reason the left is just painful.

The research that came out recently regarding a link between sleeping position and still birth has only added to my anxiety and I've had about 2 weeks of virtually no sleep at all and feeling incredibly guilty that I cant do just one simple thing to avoid something so terrible.

Anyhoo, my midwife has tried to reasure me that right side lying is no big deal and to just do whoever is confortable. I've also read this:

www.nhs.uk/news/2011/06June/Pages/mothers-sleeping-position-and-risk-of-stillbirth.aspx

(sorry can't remember how to do clickable links) which pretty much poo-poo's the evidence. But I STILL can't get the nagging worry out of my head. I'm still left side lying and staying awake most of the night.

It's beginning to drive me slightly crazy!

Am I the only one??

Just to add, at 33 weeks I've been very lucky to have a very easy pregnancy in general. It's only the sleeping issue that's bothering me. I'm torn between feeling guilty for sleeping on my right or feeling guilty for getting no sleep.

I guess I can't work out which scenario is worse for the baby...

I suspect worrying and getting no sleep are far worse for you and the baby than sleeping on your right side. Which is the only place I can sleep for long.

I ditto exactly what Elephants says above. I pretty much always sleep on my right side, waking up on my back often.

I can't do left side only as it gets too sore. I alterate between left, right and propped up on pillows. Being pregnant can be a very anxious time but I think some of these articles only serve to make that worse. As someone who is pregnant after miscarriage I've been over the top about avoiding caffeine, alcohol etc even though small amounts are allowed. I've given myself a bad back trying to lean forward (supposed to turn a back to back baby) until my Consultant told me to stop worrying. I've had friends think I shouldn't be wearing well fitting underwired bras, beaten myself up for not doing perineal massage and had breast feeding preached to me by a gay man! In the early hours of this morning I was stressing because despite propping my sizeable belly on a pillow I still roll too far forward and had convinced myself that because I have an anterior placenta that I'd starved my baby.

Pregnancy can bring out the worst in us when it comes to anxiety/worry. I'd read the stillbirth link before but am sticking with NHS advice. We need to stop being so hard on ourselves and ease off on the worrying.

I slept on my right side or my back when I was pregnant. Ds is 2 and absolutely fine. Try not to worry too much, you need sleep. However that comes

I slept on what ever side I felt comfy on and was never told about stillborn. I'm a tummy sleep too so found it tough but I'm sat here holding my perfect 3 week old dd. I tried more with my son to do left side sleeping but I see no difference between them

I try to sleep on my left, but it goes numb. So I alternate, which is fine - I also regularly (even at 37 weeks) wake up almost on my front, and so far nothing seems to be an issue.

Also alternated - which given SPD and increasing bump, was a lot more faff than just rolling over in bed! (Get increasingly sore. Eventually decide faff was worth it. Deep breath. Clench everything as taught by physio . Roll to hands & knees. Breathe a bit. Clench everything again then carefully lower self down on other side, with no twisting etc. Finally get some more sleep!)

Agree with others, way more important you should rest.

Well this is bizarre because when I was pregnant (many years ago!) I was told by the MW to sleep on my right, because the research then was that having your heart in the higher position was better for pumping blood round your system.

I remember this because I am a naturally left-sided sleeper, so hated trying to sleep on my right and couldn't manage it at all. Like the OP, I spent many nights lying awake trying to do the right thing but not being able to get to sleep.

OP - I'm not a medical person but I would have thought that if you are 33 weeks and have had an easy pregnancy so far, the chances of a stillbirth at this stage must be very, very small. Try to get some sleep - in any position!

The evidence is a bit shaky. And the increased risk is incredibly small.

I have been told to try to sleep on my side, left OR right, as preferable. But, that if blood was getting cut off, I would feel discomfort and wake. This was by a consultant who specialises in preventing miscarriage and stillbirth: they felt the report had been poorly reported in that it made the risk seem like a leap when it was a tiny incremental amount.

I have also heard if you have to sleep on your back, sleeping propped up is fine (though can aggravate back ache).

The right hand thing wasn't even in the original report to any great degree - it was about back sleeping.
Internet reports have got obsessed with sides!

The sleeping position thing annoys me even more than some of the eating restrictions. You sleep however you can get comfortable. If the baby is not happy, you will know about it when he/she starts kicking around. Sleep is the important thing. Not some very vague and unreliable research that sys sleeping on one side is better than the other.

Pregnancy is a terrifying time as it is. With no sleep it's worse. Please just lie however you have to in order to get a good rest

I slept on my right side with three of my pregnancies. Dd2 used to kick like mad if I tried to lie on my left and only stopped when I turned over.

With ds2 I laid on my left as it was more comfortable.

I like sleeping on my front as well and found it hard enough to get comfy on my side. I found a single duvet helped loads as I could stuff it between my knees, wedge a bit under my bump and use some as a pillow. For me it was much better (and cheaper) than the body pillows which were too short for me.

Thank you for all the replies! It's so reassuring to hear lots of people agree the research is tosh. (Especially that a consultant advised lying on either side.)

Obviously, a still birth is a pregnant woman's absolute worst fear. So it's hard to keep that nagging thought out of your head. The irony is, the less sleep I get the more I tend to obsess over details like this, and then I get less sleep and it's just a catch 22 cycle.

Lying on my back quickly makes my feel like my heart is pounding, I haven't stayed there long enough to work out if it makes me light headed because it's do unpleasant. I guess if right side lying was a problem I'd get similar symptoms.

I read somewhere while last pregnant that the risks associated with sleeping on your back we're more aimed at women who we're sedated and couldn't respond to the body's messages to move, not normal healthy women.

That said, I never found back sleeping comfortable and I agree that the increased risk must be tiny between left and right hand sleeping, and that sleep full stop is a priority, especially is fatigue provokes further anxiety.

Sleep on whatever side you feel comfortable, I find having one of those really long maternity pillows helps with any discomfort and I just alternate from one side to the other.
When sleeping you can't control your sleeping position.
Of course nobody wants to put their baby at risk, but for me this is a no brainer in that the 'research' is flawed and creating unnecessary anxiety. Although we have a desire to control everything, having a stillborn baby is completely out of anyone's control and all we can do is aim to have a healthy pregnancy with regular antenatal care to reduce any possible risks.
Hope you can now get some sleep.....I bloody can't tonight-anxious about DD first school day tomorrow!!

I agree. The evidence is sketchy. I honestly think stillbirths happen for a variety of reasons, most of which can't be controlled. I agree that the stress of worrying about it all is most damaging of all.

I sleep however I want. And did with my previous two pregnancies. Second pregnancy I usually woke up having moved onto my back!

I'm a tummy sleeper, I slept mainly on right using preg pillow.

Midwives told me baby head down but back on right and as they turn clockwise in labour could lead to a back to back birth so been alternating now and leaning to left when on sofa and during bh.

I think this is why they say sleep on left

I struggle to sleep on my left side and generally alternate between left, right and on my back (and sometimes every so slightly on my tummy but not flat out on it as that's not comfy). Generally it's dictated by baby and what position she'll let me sleep in without kicking the crap out of me.

I'd suggest propping yourself up with pillows - that way no matter what way you lie there is no risk of ending up properly flat on your back.

Your body will turn you around if baby is in danger I find. There were nights where I would be sleeping on my right and suddenly become very uncomfortable and need to turn over. Ditto if I was on my back.

If you're very uncomfortable (on either side), might it be worth seeing an osteopath who would check that there were no subtle underlying issues internally, and could re-align everything optimally ready for birth?

I can recommend a friend/osteopath in South London who specialises in pregnancy and babies, if anyone's interested.

Either side is fine.