Being Pregnant
I Hate Sleeping on My Left
My pregnancy had a rocky start (3 Things I Wish I Had Known at 5 Weeks) and after weeks of feeling perpetually stressed out by every twinge and cramp, I decided to take a much more relaxed view of pregnancy.
Especially after reading The Panic-Free Pregnancy, I chose to only worry about things my doctor or midwife brought to my attention. But there’s one thing that I can’t stop panicking about… Sleep positions.
I recently read that sleeping on your back can cause problems with “backaches, breathing, digestive system, [and] hemorrhoids.” But most importantly, I read (and was told by my doctor) that sleeping on the back can put pressure on my aorta and vena cava blood vessels. Apparently, the weight of my growing stomach can literally cut off my baby’s blood supply!
It’s better to S.O.S — sleep on your side, specifically the left, as this doesn’t put pressure on your blood vessels.
I don’t know why I’m stressing out over this so much when I choose not to worry about other issues. I guess it’s pretty scary to visualize my position cutting off the baby’s blood — and therefore oxygen — supply. So I’ve been trying to switch from sleeping on my back to sleeping on my left, but I HATE IT. It’s so hard to switch sleeping positions, especially since I tend to just roll back my back in the middle of the night.
Here’s some tips my Healthy Tipping Point readers have suggested for my S.O.S. problem.
- Buy a Snoogle Pillow: A Snoogle is a full-body pillow that is shaped like a C to support the knees, belly, and neck.
- Surround Yourself with Regular Pillows: I’ve also been advised that sleeping with a pillow behind me can help prevent me from rolling over.
- Tilt Your Hips: What’s really been working for me is putting a rolled-up towel under my right hip. This tilts me to my left, even though I’m still on my back.
How did you change your sleeping position during pregnancy?
Source: American Pregnancy Association
Picture: David Roseborough
Go Back To Being Pregnant
9 Comments
BLM commented on Jan 26 12 at 4:44 pmi’ve used the snoogle since my 2nd trimester and love it. i’ve also been told that if you’re on your back you’ll know when it’s a problem because you’ll have numbness or tingling in your legs – so i wouldn’t worry about it too much. that said the snoogle is awesome and has made sleeping much more comfortable. i was a side sleeper pre-preg so this hasn’t really been a prob for me.
erniebufflo commented on Jan 26 12 at 4:46 pmI try to sleep on my side, but don’t obsess about it. I have a Boppy maternity body pillow that helps keep me on my side, but I find it SO effectively immobilizes me that I wake up with hip pain, so I don’t sleep with it every night. I sleep on my back a lot, and my twins are still healthy and growing on track 26 weeks later.
ariela commented on Jan 26 12 at 5:05 pmI try to sleep on my side as well, and a body pillow really helps. But I often wake up on my back, having rolled over in my sleep. I figure our bodies wouldn’t have evolved to do something that would seriously endanger the baby so I don’t stress about it! In my opinion this is just another part of the ‘keep pregnant women living in fear’ agenda that society (or the medical establishment! not sure who exactly…) seems to have. Women have been growing babies since forever and if the whole process was as fraught as modern discourse would have us believe, then how did world population reach 7 billion?
What does scare me is the unavoidable exposure to many environmental toxins in our water, food, and the air that we breathe (e.g. PCBs, dioxins, solvents, POPs, nitrates, pesticides, etc.) These are chemicals we didn’t evolve with and which can have devastating effects on growing fetuses, yet we hardly talk about such risks, let alone hold industry to account for releasing them into the environment, preferring instead to blame women for sleeping on the wrong side or eating soft cheese!
Stacie commented on Jan 26 12 at 9:35 pmI think your body will not let you sleep in a position that’s actually harmful. I couldn’t be on my back for longer than a few seconds without feeling short of breath–my vena cava let me know to move.
I couldn’t sleep on my left side–I had horrible reflux that for some reason occurred when I was on my left but not on my right. I couldn’t deal with the million pillows pregnant women are supposed to use–I used a wedge and that was it. No “snoogies,” no “boppies,” nothing ending in -ies.
I slept on my right side and everything turned out OK.
Sarah commented on Jan 27 12 at 10:13 amWith my triplets I slept how I could! There is a point where I could see that happening, but the truth is, it’s so uncomfortable when you get there, there is now way you could sleep like that. I had to lay down for ultrasounds at the end and it almost killed me. The babies never showed any issues though and I was laying on my back while we were checking heart rate etc. Don’t worry about the small stuff! I never had one OB or MFM say anything to me about it… And I saw a TON.
EJ in OH commented on Jan 27 12 at 10:42 amWith my sons (ages 3 and 4) sleeping on my left was just the most comfortable (although non-prego, I am a belly sleeper). It was difficult. During this pregnancy, sleeping on my left has been a challenge. I’ve been sleeping on my right because its more comfortable, but I do try to alternate.
I can’t sleep on my back because I can’t breathe well if I do.
MB commented on Jan 27 12 at 11:32 amI wonder if there is more panic info out there, because this (my second pregnancy) has me as panicky and worried as you are about this! I wind up doing a lot of propping – one pillow between the knees and then something behind my back to keep me (kind of) on my left side. I agree that the tilted angle is most comfortable.
Tracey commented on Feb 01 12 at 5:26 pmI JUST asked my doctor about this last week.
She said that if there was anything she could take out of a pregnancy book, this would be it!
There IS some validity to the point that the weight of the baby can put pressure on your vena cava. However, what she said to me is that if you are flat on y our back, the weight of your baby is in the middle of your back, pressing on the vein that goes right up your spine. It’s easier to understand with hand motions, but if you put a towel/pillow under your right shoulder-to-hip and try to lay on your back, you are no longer laying flat on your back. Instead, you are slightly shifted, and the weight of the baby is no longer straight on your spine, and thus not on the vena cava.
So I now sleep on my left side with a pillow in between my legs. I’ve also put a pillow or towel behind me, so that if (when!) I roll to my back, I am not completely flat. This also helps me roll back onto my side rather quickly because I’m not as comfortable!
Anyway- I’m not a doctor– this is just what my doctor told me and has helped me relieve some of my “OhmygoshI’mnotonmyleftside” middle of the night panic attacks!
heidi commented on Apr 04 12 at 5:18 pmI will have to try the towel thing! I hate sleeping on my side
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