Pregnancy fact or fiction: On your back
Categories: Pregnancy & birth, Health & safety, Sleep
I heard the umbilical cord would get wrapped around the baby's neck. I heard it would suffocate the baby. I heard it would suffocate me. I heard not to ever, ever, ever sleep on my back. Coincidentally, I forgot to ever ask my OBGYN about whether or not it was ok to lie on my back while I was pregnant, and, honestly, I felt a little silly bringing up such a thing when there were other, seemingly more serious questions to spend our time discussing.
So, can you, or can't you? As we all know, the information we uncover on the Intranet can be flighty. According to the American Pregnancy Association, sleeping on your back during pregnancy is a no no. And not just for the reasons you might suspect. Their article on the subject actually focuses on getting a good night's sleep, recommending certain types of sleeping positions to ease back pain, curtail the dreaded heartburn (you never had heartburn while pregnant? Curses!).
Sleeping on your back can cause problems with breathing, digestion, back ache and hemorrhoids (yikes!) as well as causing potential harm to your baby by decreasing circulation to both of you. Your abdomen rather smushes your intestines. aorta and vena cava. If you wake up on your stomach, as I am prone to doing, just turn back to your left side, the sleeping position recommended for pregnant women.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
queenie 5-26-2008 @ 1:40PM
Once you are past your first trimester you should not lie flat on your back. Actually the concern has nothing to do with the umbilical cord, it has to do with your inferior vena cava. Your inferior vena cava runs up and down your back and is what supplies the majority of blood and oxygen to your body and to your baby. As your uterus, amount of amniotic fluid, and baby grows, the extra weight that goes against your back/inferior vena cava when you lie on your back cuts down on blood flow and oxygen supply to both you and baby. We alway recommend that a woman at least keeps a pillow under her hip to elevate her slightly off her back or sleeping to one side or the other. When we have people at the hospital we are always careful to keep a pillow under a hip and use a hip roll in c-sections as we have seen this make a huge difference in the fetal heart rate. By the way I am an OB nurse so this is valid info.
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mamaloo 5-26-2008 @ 4:23PM
I have to concur with the bulk of this. However, my midwives have consistently counseled over the years that it is not until within a few weeks of pregnancy when the weight of the uterus, with placenta, fluid and baby, is so great that it poses a real risk. This is one of the reasons why being reclining or supine in labour and/or delivery, is not a good way to birth.
As a doula, this is definitely a topic I research regularly.
mamaloo 5-26-2008 @ 4:25PM
Doh!
I meant "within a few weeks of delivery"! Haha!
Kevin 5-26-2008 @ 2:51PM
um, the vena cava is a vein - it doesn't carry oxygen!
I always encouraged my wife to sleep in any position she could - your body will wake you up if something is lacking blood.
I've known pregnant women who sleep on their belly the entire pregnancy and some who've slept the entire pregnancy on thier back with no complications. Now, if you have a pre-existing circulatory problem or gestational diabetes (which is waaaay over diagnosed imo) than yes, you probably should try to limit the amount of time sleeping on your back.
Maybe instead of focusing on how pregnant women sleep we should look at the archaic position (on the back/lying down) that hospitals still employ!
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Jenn 5-26-2008 @ 3:17PM
My doctor told me to avoid lying on my back if it was at all possible (for all the reasons listed : circulation, avoiding heartburn, etc) and I found I was much more comfortable in other positions anyway. If I tried to lie down flat on my back, I got cramps.
Lying flat on the back (with no propping under the knees or anything) is not considered a healthy position for the spine even if you're not pregnant. I've been told by several different spine doctors, as well as physical therapists, that you should avoid that position if at all possible.
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Lisa 5-27-2008 @ 8:24AM
Kevin: A vein carries blood, which contains oxygen for the baby, decrease that your decreasing the babies blood supply and in turn their oxygen...
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Michele 5-27-2008 @ 9:30AM
I'm currently 39 weeks pregnant and I can tell you for sure that lying on your back is very painful and not to mention almost impossible to get up from.
I did ask my Dr about lying flat on my back and she said that it was a big no no mainly because there's no telling how much pressure is being put on the vein and could cause the baby harm. Better to be safe than sorry.
I think there's also a big difference between lying flat your back and being propped up by a few pillows and sleeping on an angle. The pillow prop is ok for me at least.
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queenie 5-27-2008 @ 10:41AM
Kevin. Even though the inferior vena cava is a vein carrying deoxygenated blood, that blood is being carried back to the heart to be re-oxygenated. You do not have effective re-oxygenation if this does not occur. Ask any pregnant woman who has experienced, dizziness, lightheadedness or even fainted (this last one is rare) while lying flat on her back. As a nurse and childbirth educator, even though I work in a hospital I would never encourage my patients to spend their whole labor in bed. There are so many other options even in the hospital setting.
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Lori 5-28-2008 @ 6:02AM
I was too physically uncomfortable to sleep on my back, particularly in the last trimester. I couldn't breathe. I would have loved to have had the option, however! No matter how many times I switched sides, I was still uncomfortable.
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Amy 5-28-2008 @ 5:53PM
My OB said not to worry about it, if you're cutting off blood/oxygen then it will become uncomfortable for you and you'll move long before its an issue for the baby. The human body is engineered to take care of itself, so save your money on the pregnancy pillows unless it's an issue of comfort. All pregnant women deserve to be comfortable. (Personally, I used about 8 normal pillows and slept best on my side at about a 45 degree angle).
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