Can't sleep on my left...

[PPPMA]

I keep picking up on numerous posts that people are sleeping on their left religiously, getting their partner to wake up and check they haven't rolled over, using a pillow to keep them on their left, worried about stillborn etc.

I am unable to sleep on my left hand side as I have a prosthetic leg, and it's not possible or comfortable at night when I'm not wearing it to sleep on my left hand side.

I haven't spoken to my midwife about it as I haven't seen her for a while, but need some reassurance that sleeping on my right hand side is okay? Surely once you are asleep you can't help which side you sleep on?

My injuries already cause me anxiety and I'm worried about childbirth. I don't need any extra stress.

Help?

As long as your not on your back,your fine. I’m sure the right side is ok xx

I just keep being told 'sleep on your left. Sleep on your left' - I can't! It's so frustrating...

Honestly it's fine, my ME told me to sleep however I'm comfortable. I invested in a beauty of a pregnancy pillow from Mothercare and it helped a lot. I sort of straddled it and used it to rest my bump whilst sleeping, absolute godsend.

Was also useful for feeding once baby was born too!

I was wondering about this as I always wake up on my RHS. Just found this www.nhs.uk/news/pregnancy-and-child/mothers-sleeping-position-and-risk-of-stillbirth/ so I’m going to stop worrying!

Sleep however you are the most comfortable.

Most midwives will tell you that the female human body is designed to carry pregnancies and something as benign as sleeping on your right rather than your left isn't going to cause major issues.

There is some research/advice into sleeping positions in the third trimester (before that there is no advice, sleep how you want!) but having looked at analysis of that research I came to the conclusion that the risk was so minimal (every baby was born alive and healthy in a study about sleep positions) that it was massively outweighed by the benefit of having a decent nights sleep.

The human body is usually very good at letting you know if something is wrong, it's highly likely that you would naturally change position in your sleep anyway if there was a problem.

You’ll be fine. I haven’t slept on my left much as I have horrendous hip pain on the left side, even with a support pillow and all of that.

I spoke to my midwife about this last week at my 34 week app as I have been getting really bad hip pain in the night from sleeping on my side (especially my left side) and keep waking up on my back. I have NO idea how people manage to sleep on the same side all night - I would get horribly uncomfortable doing that even before I was pregnant! She said that left or right side is fine. She also said that back is not necessarily hugely problematic; in theory it is more likely that I would would wake up from feeling breathless etc before any harm would be caused to the baby. She suggested that if I was finding my sides too painful, I could prop myself up more with pillows and sleep on my back.

Whilst left may be preferable I couldn’t do it with my second and slept on my right. I also slept sitting up with a million pillows as I could not lie on my right all night without getting pain. All turned out fine

My right hip is killing me from laying on it all night without moving as I usually sleep on my back, but I don't have the option of switching. It's so uncomfortable but something I'll just have to get used to!

Either side is fine. I was worried about this too, as I swear there used to be a campaign that women should sleep on their left! But NHS advice no longer seems to favour that. Baby is quite comfortably nested on my right hand side, so likes it there.

Switching between sides is getting so hard at the moment. Especially with SPD pains. I have to wake up fully and roll myself and my maternity pillow a million times a night. Agh.

I'm 37 weeks and since I've been too big to sleep on my belly (about 17 weeks) I've turned between my left and right. I'm too much of a fidgety sleeper to stay put all night! Now I am enormous I use a pillow under my bump and one wedged behind my back to keep me roughly on my side and then wake to do several three point turns to get over many times a night!

It's fine, sometimes I wake up kind of on my back too. I wouldn't worry.

I have horrendous left side sciatica, so I mostly sleep on my right side, sometimes briefly can sleep on my left, and then to give both hips a break I sometimes have to sleep on my back.

@PPPMA worth just double checking, but I believe it's the flatness of lying on your back that's the real issue.

If you could prop yourself up a bit, that should mitigate the risk.

I was told today at my consultant clinic that either side is absolutely fine and if you prop yourself up on a few pillows then you are ok on your back too. As long as you are not flat on your back as it may cause too much pressure on your baby's bloody supply.

I sleep however I’m comfortable! It’s hard enough to sleep when pregnant anyway without trying to stay on one side all night. Don’t worry.