# Can you sleep propped up?



## natasha82

I know you're not supposed to sleep on your back but i seriously cannot get into a comfortable position at all in bed. I was thinking what about lying on your back but with pillows propping you up (top half) so you weren't actually flat on your back? Or would this still be a problem? :shrug:

A question, if you happen to go into hospital during your pregnancy, to be monitored or whatever, i am pretty sure you are laying on your back then in the hospital bed? So why is it ok then? Or do the midwives come and make sure you are laying on your side? :shrug:


----------



## erikab922

I wake up in the middle of the night on my back all the time - please ladies correct me if I'm wrong but I'm quite sure that in the annals of time no mother has lost her baby from laying on her back. Yes it can reduce circulation both to you and your baby, and can cause changes in your blood pressure (in either direction) but from what I understand in order to do any real damage you'd have to be flat on your back for quite an extended period of time. 

Don't beat yourself up over it, if you can get comfortable being propped up it's better than getting no sleep at all.


----------



## Kaede351

I sleep propped up quite a lot lately. It's pretty much the only way I can get comfortable nowadays. My belly feels SO heavy when I lay on my side, and propping it up with a pillow really is not comfy to me. 

My midwife said that it's only if you lie flat on your back... as in no pillows on a totaly flat surface... that it can possibly cause problems. The same with laying on your side. It's not lie you spend every day all day in those positions, I really do not think it will hurt :)

XxX


----------



## natasha82

I know, i don't actually know of anyone where this has caused problems to mother or baby either, but you read all these scare stories about it reducing the blood supply to the placenta and stuff like that. :shrug:

I'm gonna try sleeping propped up abit then, *sigh* its gotta be worth a try, ive tried every other position.


----------



## jenn2282

i sleep propped up a bit. it tends to help with my heartburn.


----------



## floofymad

I've been sleeping propped up with 3 normal pillows and one v shaped one for months now! Mainly cause of heartburn. It's only been the last 2 weeks or so, that I can't get comfortable in this position either. Midwife said it was ok and only a problem if you sleep flat on your back


----------



## megangrohl

I think that all these rules for pregnant woman are just ridiculous. While, yes, it is bad to be on your back for a prolonged period of time (due to restriction of blood flow to the placenta) I think it's alright to lay on your back for short periods of time. Look at all the women that had babies back in the 30s 40s and 50s, they never had any of these rules and had babies just fine. A good rule of thumb is to take everything in moderation. In answer to your question, my pregnancy books say it may be more comfy for you to sleep propped up as it helps with heartburn and indigestion as well.


----------



## natasha82

megangrohl said:


> I think that all these rules for pregnant woman are just ridiculous. While, yes, it is bad to be on your back for a prolonged period of time (due to restriction of blood flow to the placenta) I think it's alright to lay on your back for short periods of time. Look at all the women that had babies back in the 30s 40s and 50s, they never had any of these rules and had babies just fine. A good rule of thumb is to take everything in moderation. In answer to your question, my pregnancy books say it may be more comfy for you to sleep propped up as it helps with heartburn and indigestion as well.

Exactly, some of these rules are stupid. When i tell my mum stuff you aren't supposed to do nowadays she says well we did it when we were pregnant, so it can't be that bad. We turned out ok and our mums before us and so on. My baby is actually more active when i lay on my back anyway, but then i think is it cos he's strugglying for oxygen or something, damn scare stories. Will be so glad when my bean is here and i can sleep in a comfortable position in bed.


----------



## marley2580

It's only if you're flat on your back and only if you can't feel any discomfort. When you have a section the bed actually tilts to the left (very strange feeling lol) once they've numbed you.


----------



## natasha82

marley2580 said:


> It's only if you're flat on your back and only if you can't feel any discomfort. When you have a section the bed actually tilts to the left (very strange feeling lol) once they've numbed you.

Wow i didn't know that about the bed thing, bet it is strange. But i mean you lay on your back in hospital beds if you get admitted and that and they don't seem all that concerned about you laying on your side.


----------



## marley2580

But usually you can feel the discomfort that would signal to you that you need to change positions. When you have a spinal or epidural you can't feel that discomfort, it's also one of the reasons they put the CFM monitors on if you have an epi.


----------



## megangrohl

natasha82 said:


> megangrohl said:
> 
> 
> I think that all these rules for pregnant woman are just ridiculous. While, yes, it is bad to be on your back for a prolonged period of time (due to restriction of blood flow to the placenta) I think it's alright to lay on your back for short periods of time. Look at all the women that had babies back in the 30s 40s and 50s, they never had any of these rules and had babies just fine. A good rule of thumb is to take everything in moderation. In answer to your question, my pregnancy books say it may be more comfy for you to sleep propped up as it helps with heartburn and indigestion as well.
> 
> Exactly, some of these rules are stupid. When i tell my mum stuff you aren't supposed to do nowadays she says well we did it when we were pregnant, so it can't be that bad. We turned out ok and our mums before us and so on. My baby is actually more active when i lay on my back anyway, but then i think is it cos he's strugglying for oxygen or something, damn scare stories. Will be so glad when my bean is here and i can sleep in a comfortable position in bed.Click to expand...

Same here. She is like wow we didn't have to do any of that stuff when I was pregnant. I'm the oldest and was born in 1983 so not really that long ago either. And don't get me started on all these food restrictions either lol I don't think being on your back means he is struggling for oxygen, try not to worry! I lay on my left side as it's most comfy for me, though. If I'm on my back or my right side my lungs are way restricted and I get heartburn and indigestion worse. I can't wait until she's here too, so I can be comfy again!


----------



## megangrohl

Also, I wanted to add that when I went in to the birthing unit at my hospital she propped the bed up so it was like I was sitting up. Not sure if when you're in labor they do it, and not sure if all hospitals do it, but mine does! Hopefully that answers your question?


----------



## natasha82

megangrohl said:


> Also, I wanted to add that when I went in to the birthing unit at my hospital she propped the bed up so it was like I was sitting up. Not sure if when you're in labor they do it, and not sure if all hospitals do it, but mine does! Hopefully that answers your question?

Thanks yeah that helps. When i went to the hospital i was propped up too so probably the same everywhere? I just wasn't sure if being propped up counted as being on your back still iykwim lol. But guess its all ok. Yeah i was born in 1982 (big 30 this year) which don't seem that long ago but considering how much things have changed it can seem a long long time ago. Children nowadays seem to have such different childhoods to how mine was spent lol. I was a bit of a tomboy - climbing trees, making dens, going on bike rides for miles around. In the school holidays we would be out all day and only come back home for our meals or when it got dark, lol. Those were the days.


----------



## megangrohl

natasha82 said:


> megangrohl said:
> 
> 
> Also, I wanted to add that when I went in to the birthing unit at my hospital she propped the bed up so it was like I was sitting up. Not sure if when you're in labor they do it, and not sure if all hospitals do it, but mine does! Hopefully that answers your question?
> 
> Thanks yeah that helps. When i went to the hospital i was propped up too so probably the same everywhere? I just wasn't sure if being propped up counted as being on your back still iykwim lol. But guess its all ok. Yeah i was born in 1982 (big 30 this year) which don't seem that long ago but considering how much things have changed it can seem a long long time ago. Children nowadays seem to have such different childhoods to how mine was spent lol. I was a bit of a tomboy - climbing trees, making dens, going on bike rides for miles around. In the school holidays we would be out all day and only come back home for our meals or when it got dark, lol. Those were the days.Click to expand...

Yeah me too, tons has changed! I was also a tomboy and wore baggy shirts or sweaters with raggedy pants with holes in them lol we were always outside playing. Now all the kids are into digital stuff like computers and video games. My little girl will not be like that, thats for sure! I want to have her outside as much as possible


----------



## mrsrof

My mum has always said that when she was pregnant with me (and I was her second!) she had to learn to sleep sitting up (propped up with pillows!), and even now she uses about 4 pillows because she got used to it!!


----------



## natasha82

Same here, our boy will be an outside rough and tumble boy lol. My BF is 13 yrs older than me but its weird cos even though there is an age gap (not that you can tell lol) we had similar childhoods. We were both always out on our bikes and played the same childhood games etc, so we both have the same kind of outlook on life and how we want our son.


----------



## Amethyste

I used to try to sleep on my side and always woke up on my back but more i got into the pregnancy, more i started to feel bad on my backI put some pillows behind my back few times so if i rolled i wouldn't be completely flat but i am not sure if it helped.

I would say as long as you feel comfortable go for it. I don't roll anymore on my back now (must be cos i am too big, lol) and i try to sleep on my left side but sometimes i turn on the right side and i am not sure i am supposed to but there is no way i can sleep in the same position all night !!


----------



## Jill_W4

megangrohl said:


> I think that all these rules for pregnant woman are just ridiculous. While, yes, it is bad to be on your back for a prolonged period of time (due to restriction of blood flow to the placenta) I think it's alright to lay on your back for short periods of time. Look at all the women that had babies back in the 30s 40s and 50s, they never had any of these rules and had babies just fine. A good rule of thumb is to take everything in moderation. In answer to your question, my pregnancy books say it may be more comfy for you to sleep propped up as it helps with heartburn and indigestion as well.

I know this is an old post, but I hear this all the time as a maternity nurse. “Look at women that had babies back in 30s, 40s, 50s, they never had any of these rules and had babies just fine” this is an assumption, however not a fact. In Canada, the infant mortality rate was 64 infant deaths per 1000 births in 1940.... in 2017, that number has dropped to 4.5 infant deaths per 1000 births!!!! These ‘rules’ aren’t made up to simply inconvenience pregnant mothers. New research is being conducted all the time to give mothers and their babies their best chance at having a healthy baby, child and eventually adult. These ‘rules’ are based on hard scientific proof- sleeping on you back in the later half of pregnancy doubles the risk of having a stillborn infant! I understand it’s uncomfortable.. I was always a back sleeper, but some discomfort in order to ensure the health of my unborn child... there’s no question- I’m a side sleeper for the next few months!


----------

