With today’s article, you are going to be benefited from the detailed account of the best pregnancy sleeping position while you are holding a baby in your womb.
It has been the concern of every expectant mom out there. She wants to prevent from every sleeping posture that can fetch an opportunity to harm herself or her baby in any way. The pregnant women also seem conscious of understanding which sleeping position could be proved best to their fetus and as well as for themselves.
This article will address all of the above issues. It will also eradicate all the myths and confusions that are troublesome for pregnant ladies with regards to their body postures during their sleep time.
Best Position to Sleep While Pregnant
In today’s article, I will help you to find the best sleeping position when pregnancy, so that you can have a nice and comfortable good night sleep too. lol
But, Before going right into sleeping positions, we would through some light on the disturbed sleep patterns of a pregnant woman.
1) Why Pregnant Ladies Suffer from Sleep Inadequacy?
It is a fact that during pregnancy, a woman takes care of not only herself but as well as the life growing in her womb. It becomes difficult at times, even to sit, sleep, and turn over. When bump starts giving the appearance, it becomes a challenge to attain a right position to lie down and sleep.
According to a study that was held in 2015 about finding out the sleep issues in pregnant women states: –
“Frequent urination and difficulty finding a comfortable position frequently disturb sleep. All women should be screened and treated for sleep disturbances throughout pregnancy.”
The results of the study depict that night awakening, trips to the bathroom, lack of sleep are found in all 2500 expectant women that were studied under the above research.
The statistics of this research strengthen the claim and discovers that the 76% of women with low sleep quality, 38% of the women with inadequacy of nighttime sleep and 49% moms to be suffered from day time sleep.
2) What are Various Sleeping Position for Pregnant Women?
Every individual is habitual of adopting a posture that she feels most relaxed in. However, these postures may get modified when a lady is developing a baby in her womb.
Many of the pregnant women are back sleepers. Few of the mothers desire to sleep on their stomachs to get a cozy night sleep. While a few crave to always lay on their sides, either left or right.
3) Is there any Sleeping Position during Pregnancy that is ranked on Top of All?
Do you wonder, what exactly are those positions that can be adopted without being hesitant during your pregnancy? Many ladies get stuck in the question of what is best position to sleep while pregnant should be approved and what should be avoided during sleep.
Well, yes, out of many possible sleep positions that a mother can adopt, there lies a posture that can be declared as the safest and healthiest for your pregnant body. The doctors and sleep experts highly recommend this position for the safety of the fetus as well.
In other words, it has ranked on the top of all sleeping positions that a pregnant lady can opt for. As the most advisable position, it can be termed as medically ‘the best’ sleep posture during pregnancy.
Best Pregnancy Sleeping Position
1) What is Overall, the Most Advisable and the Best Sleeping Position For Pregnancy?
As the belly grows week by week, pregnant lady sleeping position keep on transforming too from one posture to another, from your favorite one to the feasible one, from less preferable and advisable to the most preferable and advisable.
However, sleeping left side in pregnancy has the most favorable medical effects on the growing baby.
How does lying on the left side affect the pregnant body? Sleeping on the side and particularly on the left side, increases the flow of blood to the maximum.
This particular sleeping position puts less pressure and constrains on the Inferior vena cava, the vein that carries blood from the heart, and then to the baby in the womb.
The less stress allows better functioning of the liver and kidney. As a result, there is less joint pain, swelling, and damage on hands, feet, and ankles.
2) What is the Best Sleeping Position in Pregnancy For First Trimester?
The first trimester entails the early days of pregnancy, when most of the time, adopting any sleep position does not become an issue.
The bump is not grown, so the body is capable of going into any posture as usual. Hence in the initial days, expectant mom can sleep whatever position she believes herself cozy in.
In the first trimester, the sleep disruptions are never due to the interference of uterus, but because of other pregnancy transitions.
The fluctuating level of progesterone gives rise to night cravings, nausea, dizziness, hunger, and other hormonal changes.
The early signs of pregnancy, including fatigue, can cause sleep inadequacy in pregnant women.
However, exceptions are always there. If an expectant mom complains the ache anywhere in her body in the 1st trimester, best position to sleep in early pregnancy, she could take advantage of an extra pillow between legs while lying on the side.
If she needs something extra or even more relaxing, she can also opt for an maternity pillow from our best pregnancy pillow for side sleepers.
3) What is the Best Sleeping Position for Second Trimester?
In the second trimester, the bump starts appearing, and the growth of the baby is rapidly recognized. In many of the women, various body aches like joint pain, hip pain, and backache start arising.
In the later part of the second trimester, the conventional sleeping positions may get troublesome. According to the experts, lying on the side, preferably the left one, could provide you relief.
However, pregnancy pillows can also be highly advantageous to provide mom-to-be the targeted support to the particular body area.
You should also make sure that the mattress should not be too soft at this time of your pregnancy. You can slip down a board beneath your sheets to control the sagging of the body.
If you are a stomach sleepers, you would be less desiring this position after 18 weeks of the pregnancy. Although this is not entirely forbidden, but you would certainly not like the feeling of lying on a small ball.
4) What is the Best Sleeping Position For Third Trimester Of Pregnancy?
best sleeping position for a pregnant woman in her third trimester? It is the most critical time with regards to body positions and postures. The struggle to attain an ache-free sleeping position is the hardest thing to acquire in the third and last trimester of pregnancy life.
The bump is all grown, and the baby is entirely made in the latter days of pregnancy. The uterus has stretched to maximum to intervene in your sitting, laying, and sleeping postures.
Laying on the left side could alleviate some of your complications. However, a semi sleeping position could also be adopted on a cozy chair.
It is the time when pregnancy pillows or maternity support pillows can serve you to a great extent. The U or C shaped full-body pillows allow you to cradle yourself by hugging you from front and back. These pillows assist in pain relief and resting of every portion separately.
5) What is the Best Pregnancy Sleeping Positions to Minimize Heartburn and Lower Body Pain?
The swelling of feet and ankles is a common phenomenon in pregnant ladies. The pull or lack of support to the lower area of the body aggravates swelling and pain. By placing pillows under feet elevates the limbs that can bring relief to the aching and swelling.
Another everyday ordeal, expectant mothers go through, is heartburn. This situation can be controlled by elevating the upper body. Raising the upper body with the assistance of pillows can alleviate the hurt burn.
For additional back support, full-body pillows can be highly beneficial. It provides rest and extra support to arms, legs, belly, and the back.
What Sleeping Positions are Less Advisable During Pregnancy?
1) Stomach Sleeping Styles During Pregnancy
Some of the women are habitual of sleeping on their stomachs. It is hard for them to control their habit even in pregnancy. In the first trimester, sleeping on the stomach can not be harmful in any way.
However, in the latter part of the pregnancy, stomach sleepers may find it challenging to opt for this position voluntarily. They might wake up being on their stomachs because of their habit. It is not as harmful as portrayed.
The women can go manage with it. As several pregnant ladies find it quite comfortable to sleep on the stomach while taking the support of extra pillows on both sides.
Remember, pregnancy is not the same for everyone. If one woman can comfortably sleep on the stomach in the second trimester, another woman may get fatigued and receive aches due to this sleeping position.
So the sleep therapists regard stomach sleeping less advisable than the side sleeping after the first trimester.
2) Back Sleeping Styles During Pregnancy
According to a study held back in April 2019, the habit of back sleeping during pregnancy can increase the rate of stillbirth.
However, this includes permanent sleeping on the back rather than accidentally moving and rolling onto the back during sleep time. Due to this reason, many experts are of the view that sleeping on the back does not necessarily bring a negative impact.
The women who are conscious and often find themselves sleeping on their backs, during the night time, can obtain supports from the pillows. The extra support of the pillows prevents the body from being straight on back and make it possible for you to lay on your side for most of the sleeping hours.
What Factors do Provide Aid to Sleeping while being Pregnant?
Want to have a vigorous and adequate sleep experience during your pregnancy? The following is the list of few sleep aids that can enrich the quality of your sleep during a hard time of your pregnancy life.
These sleeping aids may assist you in bringing down your fatigue level and sleep disruptions.
1) Having Light Meals before Sleep Time
The pregnant ladies should avoid stuffing everything into their mouths before they go to bed. It will result in poor digestion. The struggling digestive system can cause serious health issues for both the mother and the baby.
2) Have Less Fatty Meals
One of the leading causes of heartburn is consuming a large amount of fatty and heavy meals. Reducing fatty meals can solve the heartburn problem to a great extent.
3) Use of Pregnancy Pillows
As the uterus expands, pregnant ladies feel the dire need of extra support to legs, knees, belly, and feet. In the latter part of the pregnancy, when adopting an ache-free position while lying and sleeping becomes a challenge, maternity support pillows work tremendously and boost sleep quality.
4) Use of Antacid
The use of Antacid can also be beneficial for pregnant women. However, OTC drugs can be utilized in pregnancy, but it is better to consult a doctor before opting for them. Because of the fact, everyone’s body differs from another.
5) Use of Supplements
The supplements can treat commonly observed anomalies such as Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). However, it is significant to take advice from your healthcare practitioner regarding the dose of iron, folic acid, and test of vitamin deficiencies.
Sleeping Positions and Maternity Support Pillows
The later stages of pregnancy affect the mother’s sleep profoundly. It becomes even a challenge to lie down with their favorite position with a big belly. It is the time when the various size of pregnancy pillows can suit best to your health and body needs.
These pregnancy pillows vary in sizes and shapes. They are capable of resonating with one’s sleep habits. The main goal of using these pregnancy pillows during the tough time of pregnancy is to provide extra support to the ever-changing curves and contours of the pregnant body.
As we have seen earlier that by evaluating the challenges, a pregnant lady goes through, the doctors, midwives, and the sleep therapists suggest maternity pillows.
1) Pregnancy Pillows
A maternity pillow or pregnancy pillow is a form of total body pillow that provides proper and targeting support by addressing the ever-changing contours and curves of your body that pregnancy gives rise to.
These sorts of pillows are significant in size than the usual pillows, come in peculiar shape and size that suits best to the various needs of an expecting mom.
2) Role of Pregnancy Pillows in Attaining Various Sleep Positions
They aim to bring ease in mom to be life, to make her able to cope with disrupted sleep patterns, and to provide pain relief. The maternity pillow targets the need of the specific area. They allow adopting positions that are good for blood circulation.
These pillows allow turning over the sides in the best possible postures. The curves and the arm of these pillows allow cuddling and can give relief from body aches.
These pillows have a cooling system in their covers to allow pregnant women to get rid of night sweats. These pillows are in various kinds from a small-sized pillow to a full body length pillow, which supports every part of the body from head to foot.
BOTTOM LINE
To sum up the whole discussion, we can say that in the light of researches and experts’ advice, to lay on the side could be determined as an ideal scenario while being pregnant. Although there is no significant harm in sleeping on the right side, the left is highly recommended to ladies during pregnancy.
I hope that you had found your best and right position to sleep during pregnancy.
Now, it’s your turn. Let me know what your best pregnancy sleeping positions. Share your tips and tricks and let’s help other moms like you to make a quick decision.
And don’t forget to share this guide if it helps you!