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Pregnancy

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

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Original poster

Right side?

17 replies

HollyC255552 · 21/05/2015 15:53

Hello ladies,

31+4 now and toss and turn throughout the night. I know they advise you to sleep on your left side which I do a little however I am most comfortable on my right side. Is it safe or should I really be sticking to the left side?

Thanks!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

southlondonbaby · 21/05/2015 16:08

Hi, we went to midwife yesterday for 25 week check up and asked about this. she said there's no evidence that one side better than another. Just whatever is most comfortable.

sarkymare · 21/05/2015 16:10

The reason you are advised to sleep on the left is because it provides better blood flow to the baby making it the 'best' position to sleep in. There Is no harm at all in sleeping on your right side, both are perfectly safe options one is just better than the other.

You will be fine sleeping however you feel comfortable. Honestly it's not worth worrying about.

SunnyR · 21/05/2015 16:11

Hi, I also saw the midwife for my 28 week check up on Tuesday and asked her about this. She said there is no evidence which side is better and it is all blown out of proportion from when pregnant women were advised not too lay on their backs for too long incase it affected their blood pressure and made them feel faint. But even then your body would tell you something was wrong!

BreeVDKamp · 21/05/2015 16:12

I'm 41 weeks and always end up on my back. It's fine I'm sure!! My yoga teacher and MWs say it's only a problem if you feel unwell when doing so.

ChucksAhoy · 21/05/2015 16:52

If I only slept on my left side I'm pretty sure I'd end up with bed sores! I'm a wriggly sleeper and like Bree I often end up waking up on my back

MissTwister · 21/05/2015 19:03

It came from a study in 2011 showing left sided sleeping resulted in fewer stillbirths than back sleeping and slightly less, but not statistically significant so, than right sided. In practice its impossible to do as you will just hurt!

reallywittyname · 21/05/2015 19:09

Well, IME...

right side = acid reflux

left side = no acid reflux

But then my wiring may be different from everyone else's.

Original poster

HollyC255552 · 21/05/2015 21:54

Thanks ladies that's really helpful - I should stop worrying!

OP posts:

ARV1981 · 21/05/2015 22:07

Reallywittyname, I must be wired different too then!

OP - I asked my mw about this and she told me not to worry. She said so long as you don't lie absolutely flat on your back you should Be fine.

I usually do sleep flat on my back so this was a problem for me. I solved it for a bit with extra pillows until I started to get back pain. Then I splashed out and got one of those maternity pillows, which is awesome and well worth the money . It's one that supports you from both sides (or back and front iyswim).

Number3cometome · 22/05/2015 14:41

Someone should tell my OH who keeps waking me up to tell me to turn over

MissTwister · 22/05/2015 15:00

Number3cometome are you kidding? I think I would slap him!!

Number3cometome · 22/05/2015 15:06

I return the favour when he is snoring

Number3cometome · 22/05/2015 15:06

i will punch him if he does it tonight

HazleNutt · 22/05/2015 15:22

As far as I have found, the left side sleeping advice is based on ONE study, that looked at sleeping positions before birth. It found that women who slept on their left the night before birth had less risk of stillbirth - but sleeping on your left throughout the pregnancy, or in the last month, was not statistically significant.

Oh and it also found that women who got up more than once during the night to pee, and slept less during the day, had less risk of stillbirth - so if we apply the same logic here, we should all try to go to the toilet several times per night. Oddly, this is not something we're told to do though.

www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.d3403

scarednoob · 22/05/2015 15:45

I worry about the back/side thing constantly. no way can I stay on one side, but I do wake up on my back more than I would like. nobody who has kids seems too bothered about it, and they all say they did what they could to get comfortable.

going to the toilet every couple of hours? got that down pat!

TwinkleTee · 22/05/2015 22:38

Thanks for linking the paper HazleNutt

Interesting thing about this paper is how they collected the data about sleeping side....

"Data were obtained through interviewer administered questionnaires in the first few weeks after stillbirth"

So women were asked which side they were sleeping on in "the last month, week, and night of the pregnancy" a few weeks after a major traumatic bereavement.....

I can barely remember what day it is and what i had for breakfast while heavily pregnant.... let alone what side I slept on the night before my baby died!

If I was a reviewer for this journal article (something which I regularly do) I would have serious questions to ask about the integrity of the data collected... If women were completing accurate sleep journals every night then maybe we could say the data had sufficient integrity to say that sleep side was significant!!

Sorry.... rant over :)

HazleNutt · 22/05/2015 22:44

I was thinking the same Twinkle. I could not tell you what side I was sleeping on last night, and nothing traumatic happened.

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