Sleeping on your back during pregnancy increases the risk of birth death by 25%.
When a woman is pregnant, especially in the last months of her pregnancy, finding a comfortable position to sleep can become a real headache. How to manage to fall asleep with the weight of your belly, the kicks of your baby and the frequent urges to urinate?
Many future mothers opt for the position on the side, which is more physiological. What they surely don’t know is that this position is also the one recommended by doctors.
Indeed, the position in which pregnant women sleep at night is not insignificant: it can even have consequences on the health of their future child, if we are to believe a new study carried out at the University of Huddersfield, England and published in The Lancet. According to its authors, pregnant women sleeping on the side and not on the back reduce the risk of death at birth of their future baby.
A 2.6-fold increase in the risk of stillbirth
At present, in France there are no recommendations from health agencies on sleeping positions for pregnant women. On the other hand, the position on the side is part of the official guidelines of the National Health Service (NHS) across the Channel to reduce the number of stillbirths in the United Kingdom, which corresponds to one in 225 births.
In 2011, an exploratory study was the first to identify sleeping position as a factor in stillbirths. She concluded that the small proportion of pregnant women who sleep on their backs are at higher risk, as the weight of the uterus can reduce blood flow from the vena cava and aorta to the baby.
This new study goes further, including 851 mothers of stillbirths and 2,257 pregnant women. Its authors conclude that falling asleep lying on your back after 28 weeks of pregnancy increases the risk of stillbirth by 2.6 times. This increased risk is independent of other risk factors.
A position not recommended after 28 weeks of pregnancy
This work is therefore in line with the recommendations of the NHS, which writes in its booklet for pregnant women: “At the end of pregnancy (after 28 weeks), it is safer to sleep on your side than on your back.” He advises practitioners “to encourage women to lay on their side when they fall asleep or take a nap during the day, rather than on their back. A woman who wakes up on her back should not lie on her back. worry, but just sleep on your side again.”
“The next step is to make sure the advice from healthcare professionals is consistent and we’ll see if there are ways to help women sleep in the side position,” Dr Stacey continues. The latter, however, wants to be reassuring towards future mothers by warning them that “only a small proportion of women will be affected”.
What is the best position for sleeping while pregnant?
Sleeping on the left side is generally the recommended position for pregnant women, especially in the last months of their pregnancy, because it facilitates blood circulation and therefore helps the baby to breathe better.
It is possible to slide a pregnancy cushion or a bolster between your legs, to be wedged under your belly to support your weight and for more comfort.