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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

How important....

23 replies

MissTwister · 25/02/2015 09:18

is sleeping on the left hand side because I am really struggling. Am 18 weeks and lying solely on one side is causing me to wake up repeatedly in the night with pain all down my hip and leg. There is no option but for me to turn over for a bit as it's so painful.

I have a dream genii pillow but it's not really helping much as it mainly appears to be pressure pain just from lying on the thigh.

I know it's important to sleep on the left but I just can't imagine another 5 months of not sleeping and pain!

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DragonsDontFly · 25/02/2015 09:26

No idea but I'm popping my head in to see any other replies, because I really can't stay on my left, normally end up on right or on my back.

fattymcfatfat · 25/02/2015 09:28

I dont bother...
could never understand why I can't just be comfy.

WrappedInABlankie · 25/02/2015 09:32

It's not important at all. You'll know before you even start to do anything that will cause damage according to my MW!

I sleep on my front at 23 weeks which I also did with DS1 up to the day they broke my waters and I had him

Marshpillow · 25/02/2015 09:34

I slept on my front until 22 weeks and I've been sleeping on my right since then, I'm 35 weeks now. As far as I know she's fine in there!

Number3cometome · 25/02/2015 09:38

I sleep on my back with several pillows.

I do try to sleep on my left but I have a spinal fusion and it puts pressure on my hips.

I have a whole body pillow which helps, but usually I end up back on my back!

This is DC3 for me and in my last two pregnancies all they recommended was that you do not lay flat on your back.

Swanny84 · 25/02/2015 09:38

No midwife or health professional have ever told me how to sleep, I've only read it on here. I did try it and was awful so I gave up and sleep on my front with pillow at my side to prop me up a bit (I kinda cock my leg over pillow) nice image I know but it's the only way I'm comfy. I think it's far more important to get a decent night sleep, we have too much to worry about being pregnant xx

elelfrance · 25/02/2015 09:39

oh lord sleep whatever way is comfortable for you !!! sleep is hard enough to come by in pregnancy as it is

Jumbee · 25/02/2015 09:41

I was never able to follow the advice about sleeping (which I read in books, but no MW ever seemed concerned about). Even if I started out on my back, I'd end up on both sides during the night.

Lifejustbounces · 25/02/2015 09:41

It was never mentioned to me by a healthcare provider either. After looking into it I was told to lie on my left if I started to feel sick or dizzy.

monkeyfacegrace · 25/02/2015 09:43

Eh? I sleep on my front (ish!). I'm 36 weeks with polyhydramnios so I'm huge.

Sleep however you like. Baby really won't care!

AnythingNotEverything · 25/02/2015 09:48

It isn't really. Just sleep however you can. You need it.

Original poster

MissTwister · 25/02/2015 09:59

There was that study though that showed right sided or back sided sleeping really increased still births. It also talked about it in Expecting Better. I can't find and link to it right now as am at work but since reading it it's freaked me out.....

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THEworrywart · 25/02/2015 10:13

Left side and right side are safe.

Left is better as it increases bloodflow. Right side puts preasure on your liver so his can harm you and in rare instances the baby.

Lying in your back puts pressure on your vena cava this will reduce blood flow and cause you to feel lightheaded.

Dogsmom · 25/02/2015 10:14

It's to do with a large blood vessel that runs slightly to the right behind your uterus that can become compressed if you lie on your right or back, Google 'vena cava in pregnancy'.

I try and lie on my left as much as possible although it does give me horrendous hip pain and I often wake up on my right, during my last birth the midwives kept getting me to lie on my let as dd's heartbeat was dropping significantly on my right.

I was ok earlier on in this pregnancy while the baby still small but since about 34 weeks I'm breathless on my back within a couple of minutes.

cookielove · 25/02/2015 10:19

Well I slept on either side and would often wake up on my back. I then went into early labour (nothing to do with how I slept) and I spent the next four days and nights hooked up to a tracer on my back. Enforced by midwives so can't be that bad for you :)

AnythingNotEverything · 25/02/2015 10:24

I thought the studies that showed sleeping on your back was bad were based on pregnant women in comas? The theory being that conscious women would move before any harm was caused.

I think we're talking small increases in risk here. Not "if you sleep on your back your baby will die".

Dogsmom · 25/02/2015 10:38

I think the increase is minute 0.something% and must vary hugely from woman to woman depending on her body and where the baby is lying, my post was only based on my own experience where the midwives and myself could hear dd's heartrate dropping on the monitor if I moved onto my right or back, it then quickly sped up when they moved me back onto my left.
I also find my midwife appointments very uncomfortable now I'm heavily pregnant, when I have to lie on my back to have my bump measured and they listen to the heartbeat I'm lightheaded within a minute and can feel huge pressure inside which goes as soon as I sit up.

I agree that it's no way a case of you will have a miscarriage if you don't sleep on your left

EffinIneffable · 25/02/2015 11:19

I asked my midwife about this at my recent 16 week appt. She said it's not important at all until 28 weeks. My understanding is that sleeping on the left side as opposed to right can help baby get into a good position and relieves pressure on liver, but right side sleeping isn't actually a problem. Lying flat on the back after 28 weeks might restrict blood flow through the vein running down the back, but you would probably notice this - short breath, dizzy - before any damage occurred. I'm trying to 'train' myself to sleep on my side more to get used to it, but find I swap from left to right during the night as I'm a right fidget.

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 25/02/2015 11:32

I tried and failed in my first pregnancy (all was fine). Not even trying this time, with a non sleeping 15 month old and insomnia I'm going for whichever way gets me the most possible sleep! Your left side is the optimum position, that doesn't mean all the others are dangerous. Lying on your back can cause problems due to restricting blood flow but you'd know it was causing a problem IYSWIM, you would get dizzy and faint before it causes any damage.

eastcoastmum2014 · 25/02/2015 11:33

I tried to sleep on my left but invariably ended up on my right side as I had spd and it got painful to stick to my left.. Last couple of weeks I could only sleep on the sofa to get comfy..
.... My dd is now 5 weeks and napping on my chest right now so clearly didn't do her any harm :)

Original poster

MissTwister · 25/02/2015 12:31

Here, I have found an NHS analysis of the research in question which is interesting. It seems the study does have a lot of limitations. If I remember rightly though in Expecting Better the econometrician Emily Oster looked into it and concluded it was a study worth taking notice of - and she doesn't say that about many studies!

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

OP posts:

LollieLoves · 25/02/2015 13:12

I've asked two consultant obstetricians about this, and they both said they'd recommend sleeping on the left side after 20 weeks. One did say, though, that you don't have to be fully on your side, it's enough to have a couple of pillows under your back on the right, so you are canted over and not completely flat.

I've been training myself to do it, as I'm usually a back sleeper, and it's been agony. I wake up after 2 hours with my underneath leg throbbing from hip to knee, then turn over to my right and spend about half an hour awake till the pain subsides enough for me to sleep again. Either that or I just wake up pain-free but on my back, despite the Dreamgenie. Sigh....

Naturegirl82 · 25/02/2015 13:38

I think you need to keep a few things in mind with the study from the BMJ. The actual risk of stillbirth in the control group was 0.196% and the risk of still birth in the non-left sleeping group was 0.393% so both very low still. There are a number of confounding variables in the study, the biggest that jumps out at me is this Women with late stillbirth were more likely to be obese, socioeconomically deprived, to smoke, and be of high parity compared with controls. I've not fully looked into their analysis of this (it's contained in another paper they have published) but that would make me sceptical of the results. In addition, they only took account of the position the ladies went to sleep in and no movement during the night was accounted for, and the ladies who suffered a stillbirth were interviewed a few weeks after they had suffered a stillbirth, so their recollection will not be as good as someone being interviewed on their previous nights sleep.

The study must have been carried out well for it to have passed the peer-review process, but it isn't conclusive.

So personally if you can sleep on your left great, try and do that, but if you can't, for me anyway, a good night's sleep is far more important. You have no way of knowing if you turn in your sleep anyway as you may fall asleep on your left and wake up on your left, but have spent the rest of the night on your back. Who knows!

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