How long is it o.k. to sleep on my stomach?

[firemama]

Like a pp said, I think you're fine on your stomach. The baby is well protected. I am taking the Bradley Method classes and they recommend a partial side/stomach sleeping position. I can't find the picture online, so here's the best description I can give. Lay on either side, bottom leg straight, top leg bent over a pillow, bottom arm either up above your head or behind you and next to your side, head and top arm over a pillow. Your chest will almost be flat on the bed/pillow, and your stomach will be half down/sideways.

I have tried this position and only use it for the relaxation exercises. I have a bad neck/shoulders, so the arm position is not comfortable for me. Everything else feels great.

Maybe you could have someone take a picture of your favorite sleeping position, then show it to your doctor. That might make it easier to ask him if it's still ok.

[PearlsMom]

I seem to get really hot with a king sized pillow between my legs (or under my left lef) when I lay on my left side to sleep. I'm only about 16 weeks...so it's the time they start recommending to avoid the back sleeping, but I wish I liked it better. I feel like a furnace already!

More air conditioning! I'm usually so cold at night, but these days I sleep right under the A/C vent with it cranked up, with just a sheet over me, and DH is the one under a winter-weight comforter. I found that having my snoogle or other big pillows behind me prevents me from rolling onto my back too much when I sleep, but all those pillows do make for a warmer bed. I used to sleep with just one pillow...now I've raided the guest room bed and I'm up to 4!

[swissair81]

My OB said there is no evidence that back sleeping will harm the baby. It DOES decrease oxygen supply to you and baby but baby compensates by staying very still so that it does not use as much oxygen. Again, no evidence of harm to baby.

That said, she thinks it is better to sleep on side versus back. I was having trouble with this so she helped me brainstorm some pillow/wedge solutions. Her key advice was to use the pillow/wedge/roll to prop up your opposite hip - - so right now I sleep basically on my back but maybe tilted 20-30 degrees toward the side. Has worked well. Alternatively, sleeping with extra pillows so your upper body is kind of one quarter sitting up works well and gets rid of the shortness of breath.

Did your OB tell you that it could cause you to have seriously low blood pressure? There's even a name for it. It's called supine hypotension & you can pass out from it. Anything that affects you, affects the baby. Period.

[AnnieW625]

I slept on my side and stomach through most of my pregnancy. I have never heard of a blood pressure related condition and consistently my blood pressure is somewhere between 96 and 106 (120 is high for me, unless I am exercising). I think it just depends on the doctor and what they'll tell you, and what you are comfortable with.

[swissair81]

If you didn't consistently sleep on your back, you wouldn't have that problem. It's not related to your normal blood pressure. It's related to the weight of your uterus compressing your inferior vena cava (and the blood supply to your lower body). I know OBs sometimes say different things, but just because a Dr says something doesn't make them able to change reality. Clearly it isn't a problem for everyone, but making a blanket statement that it is fine & there is no evidence to the contrary, is not accurate.

[sste]

Did your OB tell you that it could cause you to have seriously low blood pressure? There's even a name for it. It's called supine hypotension & you can pass out from it. Anything that affects you, affects the baby. Period.

She said if I wasn't feeling shortness of breath or dizziness not to worry about it. Some people cannot sleep fully on their side or stomach - - I know, I am one of them! I will roll over to my back in sleep even if I end up on top of a mountain of wedges to do so. I don't think the goal, or at least my goal, is to have zero "effect" on the baby but rather no "harm." I specifically asked whether this whole no sleeping on your back thing or you will harm the baby was supported by a body of research evidence and she said no - - at least for someone like me who was not fainting or having other symptoms!