Sleeping on your back in pregnancy could cut blood flow to your baby

Sleeping on your back in pregnancy could increase the risk of stillbirth by cutting blood flow to your baby, experts warn

  • Experts warn sleeping on back during final three months could harm babies 
  • Say it may cut blood flow to the unborn child in the womb through umbilical cord
  • Women are advised to sleep on side to reduce risk of still birth in final months

It is a time in pregnancy when mothers-to-be are increasingly excited about the arrival of their baby.

But now experts have warned that going to sleep on your back in the final three months could harm your unborn child.

They say it may cut blood flow to the baby in the womb through the umbilical cord by 11 per cent.

Women are already advised to sleep on their side to reduce the risk of stillbirth in the final three months. 

A study of 22 women asked them to lie on their back for 20 to 25 minutes in a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine.

Experts have warned that going to sleep on your back in the final three months could harm your unborn child. Picture: Stock

It reduced blood flow in the umbilical cord by 11.2 per cent on average. Oxygen reaching the unborn baby in the womb reduced by more than six per cent compared to when the women lay on their side.

Doctors say that many stillbirths show signs of the baby having been starved of oxygen – and the findings shed light on how sleeping positions play a role.

Professor Anna David, of University College London, senior author of the UK-New Zealand study, said the findings ‘may partially explain why some women with an apparently healthy, normal-sized baby nevertheless suffer a stillbirth.

‘They confirm how the message to mums to sleep on their side in late pregnancy is very important for a healthy pregnancy.’

Women who go to sleep on their back, taking the weight of their bump, are believed to put pressure on a major vein carrying blood to the heart from the lower part of the body. 

This may lead to the heart pumping less effectively and less oxygen-rich blood being transferred to the baby.

The study of the 22 New Zealand women found they had substantially less blood flowing through the vein when on their back compared to when they were on their side.

It was cut by almost a quarter in a major artery supplying blood to the womb. Jane Brewin, of baby charity Tommy’s, said: ‘Going to sleep on your side is safer – if you wake up in a different position, don’t worry, just get back on to your side.

Women are already advised to sleep on their side to reduce the risk of stillbirth in the final three months. Picture: Stock

‘Eight babies are stillborn every day in the UK and this is one of the ways to reduce the risk.’

Previous evidence has suggested women who sleep on their back have a two to three-fold increased risk of stillbirth. 

Women are often advised to lie on their left side – as it helps the kidneys get rid of waste products and fluids – but major research found either side worked as well. 

In order to stay on their side women can try tips such as putting pillows behind them to prevent them ending up on their back or tying their hair into a low bun to make it more uncomfortable. 

A total of 52 per cent of pregnant women attending scans alone during the pandemic have been wrongly told it is ‘illegal’ to record videos or take photos of their unborn children, a poll found.

The survey by campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed comes after the NHS ordered hospital trusts in December to allow partners to be present during scans, labour and birth. 

Joeli Brearley, of Pregnant Then Screwed, said not allowing women to document their scans was ‘unnecessarily cruel’ and added: ‘It is not illegal.’

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