How bad is it really to sleep on your back?

[Dillpicklechip]

I know you're supposed to sleep on your side during pregnancy, and I understand the reasons. However, I find that even when I purposely go to sleep on my side, I often wake up on my back, and I have to wonder how long I have been on my back.

Is this something I should be concerned about? Should I be asking dh to turn me over if he notices me on my back? Or is it not really a big deal?

[Sour-Jane]

I've been wondering this too. I've never found a straight answer.

[lil_earthmomma]

The reason you are waking up when you are on your back is to roll over to your side. Your body takes care of the moving for you. There is no problem falling asleep on your back as your body will turn you onto your side.

HTH

[alegna]

If it's comfortable it's fine.

-Angela

[redorchid]

From what I've heard, the major concern is that your uterus/baby will be sitting on your vena cava, the main vein carrying the blood from your lower body back to your heart, and will pinch it off. If your legs feel normal (not tingly or numb) and they aren't swelling too bad, I think you should be fine.

If you want to be extra safe, you could maybe prop your head up with some extra pillows or have a body pillow under one shoulder/hip so you're between your back and side.

There might be other reasons for all I know. I say if you can find any comfortable position, yay! I'm usually a stomach sleeper, and that's becoming more impractical every day.

[doularosemary]

I just listened to an episode of Pregtastic recently where a CNM addressed this subject.

If you were actually compressing the vena cava you will have noticable symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, and breathlessness. The symptoms alone would cause you to seek out another position even in sleep if you experienced them.

It's not something to be overly concerned or stressed about. Your body has ways of telling you that you are in trouble and you would just listen to your body and change your position.

[Dillpicklechip]

Thanks so much for the responses! I never feel any tingling or anything like that...in fact it's normally super comfortable to be on my back after being on my side so long. So I guess I'll still try to fall asleep on my side but not worry about ending up on my back.

[diamond lil]

From what I've heard, the major concern is that your uterus/baby will be sitting on your vena cava, the main vein carrying the blood from your lower body back to your heart, and will pinch it off. If your legs feel normal (not tingly or numb) and they aren't swelling too bad, I think you should be fine.

If you want to be extra safe, you could maybe prop your head up with some extra pillows or have a body pillow under one shoulder/hip so you're between your back and side.

This is exactly what my doctor told me. She said not to worry too much about it.

[kdaisy]

The pp are right. If you are comfortable, don't worry about it. Earlier in this pregnancy, I would wake up on my back and worry. Now that I am in my ninth month laying on my back is torture! When I "have" to lay on my back, to be measured and such, I get so nauseous and dizzy it is scary. I am a pain for my mw because I will not lay flat for anything now.

Your body will tell you if you shouldn't be in a certain position!

[crazydiamond]

In agreement with everyone. . .if it's comfortable it's not a problem. If your rolled over on your back and it wasn't comfortable, your brain would automatically roll you back to your side. Your brain is smart, even in your sleep ;)

You'll know when you shouldn't be laying on your back anymore. That's because you'll quickly get dizzy, out of breath, heart racing, etc if you do. I get that way now even laying back for 20 seconds and it's absolutely horrible feeling. My MW has started to just use the doppler on me because I can't lay back long enough for her to use the fetoscope. Even the few seconds it takes to measure me is enough to not only give me symptoms, but to cause the baby's heart to race also.

For sleeping, I lay on my side with a pillow against my back. When my hips start hurting or I want to change position, I can roll over to lay on my back, but the pillow will still keep me slanted. This position is still comfortable for me and it allows me to stretch my legs and take pressure off my side.

[Sunshine4004]

If it's comfortable it's fine.

-Angela

This is exactly what my OB told me.

[onlyAngil]

The pp are right. If you are comfortable, don't worry about it. Earlier in this pregnancy, I would wake up on my back and worry. Now that I am in my ninth month laying on my back is torture! When I "have" to lay on my back, to be measured and such, I get so nauseous and dizzy it is scary. I am a pain for my mw because I will not lay flat for anything now.

Your body will tell you if you shouldn't be in a certain position!

See... the body telling you what it needs! How odd... :eyesroll Goodness knows that our bodies can not do that! I mean if they did they might tell us when to push the babies out, and then why would be need Dr.'s?!? :eyesroll (left over rant from a REALLY BAD CB Class.)

What my point really is... It is good that you have so clear signs! :D I know some women who cant sleep unless they are on their backs, they just keep tossing and turning.

[Smokering]

I try to be a good little girl and sleep on my left side with a pillow between my knees. Doesn't always end up that way, though. Sometimes I end up practically on my tummy, sometimes I wake up on my back. I think it just depends how the baby's lying--sometimes being on my back can be supremely uncomfortable, and sometimes it feels like the baby has just 'melted away' and I feel almost normal, which is great! :P (I'm 39 weeks).

[chirp]

i sleep on my back.
same as others said before and same as midwife told me...
as long as i'm comfy, it's fine--that i might consider sleeping with a wedge under my back and shoulders or propped up on some pillows just to keep baby's weight off other organs too, not just vena cava.
but that even that was not really necessary as long as i was not experiencing discomfort.

let me tell you...the only time i experienced discomfort is when i was trying to follow the sleeping advice of books and websites telling me to sleep on my side with pillows...that was TORTURE and i would wake up with back, ribs, hips and knees in complete and total agony!!

[quarteralien]

Before this pregnancy, I would have said, whatever position you can sleep in, go for it. Because let's face it, sleep is hard enough to get in pregnancy without worrying how you get it. I was a confirmed back sleeper until I had issues this pregnancy with friable cervix. Now I have to make a concerted effort to sleep on my side so that my filling bladder doesn't rest directly on top of my cervix, which makes it bleed. But I'm an exception. I didn't even have to deal with this in previous pregnancies. So, long story short, if your body isn't telling you to roll over, don't worry and get some rest.

[Dillpicklechip]

Because let's face it, sleep is hard enough to get in pregnancy without worrying how you get it.

Ain't that the truth! :eyesroll