Heading into your pregnancy home stretch? Here’s the latest research on why sleeping on your side really is best.
during late pregnancy, and the latest findings on the topic further prove the point. Women cut the risk of stillbirth by more than half when they sleep on their side during the last three months of their pregnancy, according to theCombining all the available data on the topic worldwide from five previous studies, the “mega” study provides the strongest evidence for side-sleeping thus far. It includes information from 851 bereaved mothers and 2,257 women with ongoing pregnancies.
One of the reasons for this may be because a supine position in late pregnancy is associated with reduced blood flow to the womb. A previous study from the University of Auckland suggests a major vessel in a mother's abdomen is compressed by the pregnant womb when she lays on her back, reducing the flow through the vessel by 80 percent.
The researchers say if every pregnant woman went to sleep lying on her side after 28 weeks—including day-time naps—it could prevent about 6 percent of late stillbirths. That means saving 153,000 babies worldwide each year. The study says either side is okay to sleep on, although experts have previously recommended lying on the left side to allow optimal blood flow to the placenta. And if you wake up on your back in the middle of the night, don’t press panic.
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