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You can put a rolled towel or swaddle on the underside of your belly for support. In this position, you are laying a little bit more forward onto the front of your hipbone and a little more on your belly. There is a great labor position that I recommend for sleeping and it’s called the exaggerated side lying position. Lastly, when switching side to side even that can get uncomfortable. If you are switching sides, this not only will feel better on your body but also will encourage your baby to rotate and get to know your pelvic landscape better. This can make for a very uncomfortable and long labor process and increase the odds of transferring to a hospital from a planned out-of-hospital setting. As mentioned in a previous post “Right Sided Babies”, this can lead to more issues with your labor pattern as right-sided babies tend to move towards your back in labor and then you can have what’s called “back labor”. So if you’re always on your left side then babies will spend more time on the right.
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While this is a common occurrence in pregnancy, it is not normal.Īlso, babies often sleep where they are not squished. Often times when you sleep directly on your hips you can get pinched nerves that result in sciatica, a lower back pain that on a scale could be anywhere from just distracting to debilitating. I believe it’s important to alternate sleeping on both the right and left sides.
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This could also contribute to some serious aches and pains. I am an advocate for not just laying on your left side for 10 months with an 25-35 pounds of weight added to your body. Also, if you end up rolling on your back and feel those uncomfortable sensations, the best and easiest thing to do is roll to either side. But check with your health care provider if you feel concerned. If this has happened to you, know that most likely you and your baby are fine. Many women will go to sleep on their left sides and then wake up on their backs and feel completely fine – other than the panic of “Oh no! I am not supposed to lay on my back”. However, not everyone experiences supine hypotension. If your circulation is not optimal than neither is your baby’s.
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put weight directly on that vein, which compresses it and causes your blood pressure to drop (hypotension). This is characterized by laying completely flat (supine) and having the growing weight of the uterine muscle, baby, amniotic fluid, placenta, increased blood volume, etc. As a result, you can feel woozy, lightheaded, clammy, etc. When this is compressed, so is the flow of blood circulation. Secondly and most importantly, laying on your left side puts less pressure on the vena cava – a vein that comes up from the lower part of the body carrying oxygenated blood to the upper part of the body i.e. Well, firstly, your liver is on your right side and with the growing weight of the pregnant belly, it’s best not to put pressure on it so that it can function optimally. So, what’s the deal with hearing that sleeping or laying on your left side is best while you’re pregnant?