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Pregnancy

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

Sleeping on sides

7 replies

zozozoo · 19/04/2018 09:56

I'm twenty weeks now so trying to get into the habit but it's leaving me utterly sleep deprived.

Any tips?

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Jfw82 · 19/04/2018 10:13

do you have a pregnancy pillow? I find it easier to do with having my dream genii as I can have that between my legs and then it also is supporting my back a little

zozozoo · 19/04/2018 10:16

No I don't best get shopping :) With the dream genii what happens when you want to turn over?

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LisaSimpsonsbff · 19/04/2018 10:43

I did exactly the same, found exactly the same - and have now found that the problem resolved itself as I got bigger (I'm 27 weeks now) and so closer to the date that it actually mattered, so my earlier efforts were unnecessary and I should have just got some good sleep then! As my bump got pronounced sleeping on my side started to just naturally be the comfiest option, partially because my previous preferred position (on my front) is impossible! On my back also feels funny. Since they say it only matters in your third trimester I think in hindsight I shouldn't have bothered forcing myself into a position that was unnatural for me before that.

pastabest · 19/04/2018 10:54

Just get as much as sleep as you can in whichever position is most comfortable!

You really don't need to worry about sleeping on your back until it becomes uncomfortable for you to do so.

The advice (which is hugely flawed- I will repost from another event thread) only kicks in once you are into the third trimester anyway.

A pregnancy pillow / many many pillows is still a good suggestion, but please don't worry too much about sleeping position at this point.

It's just another stick to beatbpregnant women with.

pastabest · 19/04/2018 11:00

Here is the official NHS info (it basically says don't worry what position you sleep in) www.nhs.uk/news/pregnancy-and-child/pregnant-women-should-avoid-sleeping-back-last-trimester/

and here is my summary from another thread:

Actually the studies that make this recommendation aren't clear cut.

No one involved in the most recent study actually had a stillbirth. All of the babies were born healthy regardless of what their mother's sleeping position had been in the weeks prior to giving birth. The conclusions did not definitively say that sleeping on your back in the third trimester raises the risk of stillbirth, it says that sleeping on your back does appear to have some impact on the babies' heart rate levels and from this they don't want to rule out the possibility that this could be a negative impact. However no long term negative impact was actually observed in the study.

An older study also making the claim about sleeping on your back possibly raising the risk got their data by asking a small number of women who had experienced a stillbirth what their sleeping position had been the nights before they gave birth. Now I can't tell you what my sleeping position was LAST NIGHT after an uneventful nights sleep and a boring morning. I'm relatively certain that I wouldn't reliably be able to tell a researcher what it was the night before an extremely traumatic event.

There is some evidence that sleeping on your back can cause you discomfort because of the weight of your uterus and baby squishing the blood supply. The point here is though that it causes discomfort, and naturally we tend to shift position if we are uncomfortable. Any midwife I have spoken to has told me that you would naturally move into another position long before it caused you or the baby harm. The caveat to this is if you have had an epidural and can't feel the discomfort - I think this scenario is specifically where some risks of being on your back have been identified.

The top and bottom of it is, if you are uncomfortable move into a position where you are more comfortable. I'm 32 weeks with DC2 and depending on where the baby is at the time sometimes that is on my right side, sometimes that is on my left side and sometimes that is in my back. I did the same with DC1. I think generally the advice is to try and fall asleep on your side 'just in case' but not to worry about it if you end up in your back during the night.

Jfw82 · 19/04/2018 11:14

@zozozoo the turning over is the pain in the neck as I have to detangle myself and frequently throw it out of the bed at that point but Ithat means I've at least managed some of the night on my side!

zozozoo · 19/04/2018 11:34

Hahaha jfw82 that's what I was worried about!
Lisa that's reassuring I hope it'll come naturally to me too
Pasta thanks for all that info what I had come across so far was this www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/sleep-side-pregnancy-campaign

Going to try to chill out about it a bit in any case :)

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