Sleeping on back - A real no-no?

[spraklynewthing]

Hi there,

Just wanted to get a general consensus on the 'sleeping on your back' debate. I am 23 weeks pg and having problems (oh joy!) with SPD. Try as I might to sleep on my side I always end up on my back regardless of my large pillow fort around me! (poor DH....)

I have read in numerous places this is to be avoids as it 1)can prevent blood flowing to your legs 2) can prevent blood flowing to the placenta.

what do you think? I need some 'unworried' sleep!

CHEERS!

I would love to sleep on my back but my boobs are so huge, when i do lay on my back they fall backwards and start strangling me!

I certainly DON'T have that problem RGPargy - I only just fill a B cup with my new and improved preganancy boobs!

I had been wondering why it's not recommended when, at 31wks pg I woke up on my back with crushing pain in my chest, mw said it's the weight of my uterus, pushing everything up onto my chest....Very scary!
Have you tried a pg pillow? I've got a great long squashy one from mothercare....

I was always told that YOU would start to feel unwell before you'd do any harm to yourself or to the baby. You will prob find it stops being comfortable on your back when you're bigger.

Hope someone with more knowledge comes along, but I was told by mw not to worry about it.

I wouldn't worry too much. I'm 34 weeks and also often end up on my back, to wake up very soon after as it's so uncomfy. No time to hurt myself or the baby! In fact it's becoming a bit of a challenge to feel comfy in bed in any position now. I have to hold my bump with both hands to turn round!

Yep - agree with saintmaybe. My Obs said the same thing...you'll feel unwell before any harm's done (you'll move positions in your sleep). SPD's a killer - get sleep in whatever position you can I say

I quite fancy the idea of hanging upside down...but that just might be me!

Hanging upside down!!! Major heartburn

I'm 25 weeks and still wake up on my back most nights - although I do try to go to sleep on my LHS. My mw told me not to worry about sleeping on my back, as when I got too big it would be uncomfortable anyway, and if I was doing myself any harm I would automatically wake up. I think it's more important to actually get some decent sleep!!

But if you prefer the bat position....

Sleeping on your back also increases the risk of piles and varicose veins.... that's what has forced me on to my LHS for the majority of the night

There's nothing dangerous about this exactly. Ideally, you should sleep on your left side so as not to block the blood flow in the vena cava which runs along your right side of your body. It is a large vein that returns oxygen depleted blood to the heart. Pressure on the vena cava can reduce the flow of blood returning to the heart which in turn can lower your blood pressure and cause dizziness, nothing more serious than that tho.

Sleeping or lying on your left side keeps blood flow moving as it should through your body and to the baby. Having said that, it is not as tho you are going to prevent blood flow to any dangerous degree if you lie on your back - the human body is made more effeciently than that, luckily! Main thing is to get comfy and if you feel fine lying on your back, go for it. It's probably a good idea to lie on your side for a bit tho if you've been on your back for an extended period of time. It's something to be aware of but not to worry about unecessarily. You will find as you get further along in your pregnancy and the bump gets larger that it is no longer comfortable to lie on your back tho and it will indeed probably make you feel at best breathless. I lay on my back when I felt like it until it was simply not comfortable anymore, at which point I naturally favoured my side anyway.

Hi Sprakly!

I'm quite sure it can't do that much damage considering we have to lie flat on our back's for scans etc! When I had DS, they gave me a wedge and swapped sides with it every now and then (had an epidural).

Personally I found when having DD that I got all dizzy quite quickly if I lay on my back for more than a moment or two but we're all different. I was woken up feeling unwell last night and I'm sure its because I was on my back. I just posted this in the Sept thread:

"Just to entertain you, I had a bit of an 'incident' in the night. I fell asleep cuddling DH, hoping he would feel this LO moving so I had my bump up against his back. Next thing I know, its 3am and he must have rolled onto his back forcing me to be on my back. I had no room at all to move and he wouldn't wake up to move over - visualise a tortoise put on its back with its arms and legs flailing around, not able to move. (hips are so bad that I'm finding it hard to manouvre at night!). My only options were to either fall out of bed onto the floor or to keep prodding DH to get him to roll over (he is very solid and big and looks 8 months pg himself!). The latter worked in the end but he doesn't even remember it!!!!"

Sorry about the SPD, makes it hard

My ob said it was fine( to sleep on back) before 28 weeks, but after that baby can become too heavy and cause restriction and pain in chest, etc as mentioned by others, but he also said you would wake up before you'd done much damage and not to worry too much.

Morning All (morning PurpleLostPrincess! hee hee, read your story on Sept ante thread - poor thing! )

Thanks so much for your comments - I guess the verdict is I need to get a grip (and some sleep) and stop worrying! I have to admit I am starting to wake up sore in ALL positions now, so I think the sofa along with a good supply of cheesy DVDs and a nice milky drink will be the best position to adopt from now on!

Hello. Not pg but when I was I found that I could only sleep on my back cos of the SPD. I wasn't aware it was risky tbh. There were no probs as ds was a very heft 91bs and top apgar score but the problem is that now you have heard it is risky you probably won't sleep soundly anyway as you will be too worried.