If you only have a few seconds, read these lines:
- Content circulates on social networks that advise pregnant people to sleep on the left side because it improves blood flow to the baby and to avoid sleeping on the right side.
- In fact, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said that it is safe to sleep on either side. Despite this, several experts do advise choosing the left side because it allows greater blood flow to the baby and may be more comfortable.
- Experts recommend avoiding sleeping on your back in the later stages of pregnancy. If you wake up lying on your back during the third trimester, don’t worry: just roll to one side.
By Isabel Rubio from Factchequeado
Various contents circulate that They advise sleeping on the left side if you are pregnant and avoid the right side. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) clarifies that it is safe to sleep on any sideright or left.
Despite this, it is true that some experts recommend the left side because it can improve blood flow and comfort. The important thing, according to ACOG and the experts consulted, is Avoid sleeping on your back in the later stages of pregnancy. We explain it to you.
Sleeping on the left side: not mandatory, although it can be beneficial
“Many women read online that they should sleep on their left side throughout their pregnancy, but that is difficult and unnecessary,” ACOG explained. The organization assured that “You can sleep on any side, right or left”.
In fact, ACOG advises sleeping on your side during the second and third trimesters. Suggest bend one or both knees and place a pillow between them and another under the belly. “You can also try a full body pillow for added support,” she says.
While ACOG stresses that it is safe to sleep on any side, some experts advise do it on the left side. “The left side is especially recommended, as it allows greater blood flow to the baby and also improves kidney function.”, they explain from Stanford Children’s Health, a pediatric health care system affiliated with Stanford University.
Sara Twogood, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, explained to The Bump that Sleeping on the left side “shifts all the weight of the uterus away from the right side and optimizes blood flow”. He also explained that it can increase the mother’s comfort. If you find sleeping on your right side more comfortable, Twogood recommends use pillows to slightly elevate the uterus and prevent it from moving too much to that side.
Why sleeping on your back during pregnancy can be a risk in the last trimester
“In the first trimester, the sleeping position is not limited and in the second, face down is not recommended due to the discomfort of sleeping on one’s belly,” explained Carolina Esteve, gynecologist at the Eugin Clinic, an assisted human reproduction center, to Maldita.es, half co-founder of Factchecked.
However, in the third quarter sleeping on your back is not recommended “due to an anatomical problem: the weight of the fetus and the placenta on the aorta vein and the inferior vena cava that supply the placenta.” These blood vessels pass through the belly and the weight of the uterus would compress them if we sleep on our back.
Esteve clarifies that “in general it does not have to cause problems but if there are pathologies of irrigation problems of the uterus” due to hypertension during pregnancy or obesity, for example, “by compressing the weight of the uterus against the blood vessel it can cause Decreased blood flow to the placenta.
ACOG too advises against sleeping on your back during the late stages of pregnancy: “As your belly grows, sleeping on your back puts more pressure on the blood vessels that supply the uterus. If you find yourself sleeping on your back during the second or third trimester, don’t worry. Just turn to one side or the other.”
Research published in the journal JAMA Network Open concludes that sleeping on the back during the last trimester of pregnancy was independently associated with lower birth weight and a lower birth weight percentile.
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