Studies have shown that this sleeping position is very life-threatening for the fetus.
Any mother knows how painful it is to try to get comfortable in bed at a later date. Either the stomach presses and interferes with breathing, then it pulls, then everything goes numb. Moreover, you have to get up ten times a night – the bladder refuses to put up with the fact that there is no room left for it in the body. Many are saved by pillows for pregnant women – they allow you to find a comfortable position. For some it is a cross between sleeping on the side and back, for others – partly on the side, partly on the stomach. But doctors warn: it is better to give up sleeping on your back altogether. It sounds scary, but it turns out that this position increases the risk of having a still child.
The study was published in the British medical journal ““. Experts examined more than a thousand women and found that those who slept on their backs in the third trimester had a 2,3 times higher risk of having a stillborn baby than those who slept on their sides. Perhaps this is the explanation for the “unexplained” missed pregnancies that occur between the 28th and 36th weeks. Therefore, starting from the 27th week, it is still better to sleep as you like, but not on your back. According to experts, if this rule were adhered to now, then about one hundred thousand babies could be saved.
How exactly the position of the mother’s body during sleep is connected with the prospect of giving birth to a still child, doctors cannot yet explain. Perhaps in the third trimester, the weight of the uterus and fetus increases so much that placental blood flow is disrupted. Or maybe the fact is that the mother herself has problems with breathing in this particular position, and the fetus begins to hypoxia. However, for us mothers, the reason is not so important. The main thing is not to sleep on your back.