Sleeping on your back in later pregnancy

[MrsTC]

My midwife says I'm not supposed to do this, though having a pillow wedged under one hip so I'm slightly off-center is okay to do. But once in a while, I'm so dog-tired and sleep more deeply than I normally do (read--only waking up a couple times a night to pee rather than every hour or two) and I find myself flat on my back, having wrestled my way off of my pillow supports...

...and my back and body feel soooooooo good that day. But I've always been a back sleeper.

So that happened last night, and baby's not moving a whole lot this morning, so of course I'm worried that I compressed some vital blood supply to her and she's...you know the awful thoughts.

But--does anyone know why it's so bad, especially if it makes my body feel so good? All I can find for information when I do searches for it is, it's bad, mmkay, but if you find that you've done it in your sleep, don't worry about it, roll onto your side, and go back to sleep. Typical.:irked:

[CTMOMOF2]

I think you should do whatever makes you comfortable... personally, if i lay on my back, i cannot breath at all, i feel like i my suffocate to death!!! I have to be propped up on like 4 or 5 pillows to be on my back!
I would imagine your mw was suggesting a comfortable way to sleep w/a pillow between your legs, as this is the ONLY way i could sleep while preg!

[moodyred01]

My mw told me it was okay as long as it was comfortable for me. She said I would know if it wasn't healthy because I would be very uncomfortable, and I was, my legs would start going numb, it hurt my back and I couldn't breathe well. She said that was the sign that my belly weighed too much to lay on my back anymore because it was compressing those veins and arteries. HTH!

[e123vg]

i agree with pp, do what is comfy. i asked my ob about this, because baby doesn't like me to lay on my left side. she said do what ever makes you and baby happy.

[MrsTC]

I like your answers a lot better than the one my midwife's given me!

Can we talk about eating unrestricted amounts of french fries and chocolate too???:p

[Wild Flowers]

I also have a hard time not ending up on my back. I really had a hard time with my last pregnancy. This time it hasn't been as hard, but I have a body pillow this time and can keep myself more supported. Both times, my midwives have told me that like a pp said, you will know if there is a problem. It is harder to know if there is a problem while you are sleeping, but you will be able to figure it out.

[Krystal323]

ohhhh reading this makes me feel so much better, my hips get so sore from always sleeping on one or the other, bleah!!

[gratefulmum]

Yeah, I had trouble with pg #1 sleeping on my back because my hands would go numb, and that was my sign. Maybe baby is so still this morning b/c she had a good nights rest, too!

[angela dawn]

I have this problem too. I love sleeping on my back but I worry that I am hurting the baby. Most nights I will start off propped up but when I get up to go pee I am always on my back. My baby seems fine, but why do they need to freak us out about everything? I can't always sleep on my left side, it gets uncomfortable, especially when I have heart burn. Dang whats the solution?

[Jada Mae]

You will wake up in your sleep if anything is wrong while sleeping on your back. While the weight of baby does suppress the main vein (inferior vena cava) you will feel the effects much sooner than does babe. It will wake you up and you'll turn on your side. Don't be scared into thinking that you are going to harm your baby during sleep...if that was the case I don't think humans would have made it this far! :)

[Meg_s]

i always ended up on my back last preg, this preg i cannot lie any other way because my rib hurts too much...no probs.

[onyxravnos]

It is generaly a bad idea to sleep on your back while preg but as others have said your body will tell you to adjust if it's hurting something. numbing is never good and if the blood is being constricted really bad it would be constricting it to you as well as baby. Your body will let you know if the position needs to change.

[koru]

ohhhh reading this makes me feel so much better, my hips get so sore from always sleeping on one or the other, bleah!!

me, too! me, too! i wake up feeling like i've been camping...sleeping on the hard ground with a small pad underneath me. ugh! that's what we get for having curves....

from what i understand, sleeping on your back compresses your vena cava which disrupts blood flow back to your brain (not necessarily cutting it off totally!). the harm is more to you than Baby & it will cause feelings of lightheadedness, etc. i suppose if it got severe you would pass out but i'm confident that our bodies will cue us to move if this is imminenent.

i'm pregnant with #3, have slept on my back a lot throughout my entire pregnancies and so far, so good. i try to rotate but i always end up on my back, pillows on the floor (or hubby's head) and i'm comfy as a clam.

[WinterBaby]

Sleeping on my sides has been making my hips ache, but man, being on my back within like 5-10 minutes makes me lightheaded and unable to breathe. If it were a problem for you, I imagine you'd notice the same things happening. I'm a stomach sleeper, and this pregnancy my pelvic bones have been giving me such pain, I can't even do a sort of partially on my stomach crane position, so sleep has been tough :lol

[Beth Ann]

I find that some night I wake up to pee and I am on my back. I seem to have a hard to flipping over in my sleep.

But what I miss the most is falling asleep reading on my back. Now that is hard to not do since that is how I always used to read.

[reillys_mom]

I just got a wedge pillow (literally a big triangle) so that I can lay on my back some. My chiropractor recommended it so I could do some exercises, but it is pretty comfortable and might be a good compromise.

[i<3baby]

I've always tried to stick to the left side as it is best for baby and I, however I'd often wake up flat on my back, which never caused any problems until my 8th month. I could tell that I wasn't getting enough blood in my legs because they'd feel really heavy. :(