When is it Unsafe to Sleep on My Back?

[Mild Mango]

How will I know when it becomes unsafe to sleep on my back? I'm about 15 weeks right now and sleeping on my back is still totally comfy, but I worry I may be harming the baby or myself by sleeping that way. I've been trying to sleep on my side more, but I always end up rolling onto my back at some point during the night.

Is there a certain number of weeks after which it's unsafe to sleep on your back, or is it safe until it gets uncomfortable? What are the rules?

My pregnancy app says it becomes unsafe once you start showing, but I've always had a big round belly, so it's kinda hard to tell if I'm showing or not.

 

[UnderPressure]

My doctor told me to avoid it after 20 weeks.... He also said it won't hurt the baby, but could weigh on my blood vessels and cause issues with circulation while in that position

 

[Nikko88]

I was comfortable until about 20 weeks. Even now I still will rest on my back now and again until it gets uncomfortable.

There's a lot of different advice out there. The take home is that your body will generally tell you before anything negative happens in this case. The most conservative approach is to switch to side sleeping when you show. The least conservative is to switch when your body tells you to.

All depends on how you feel about it.

https://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/sleepingpositions.html
https://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/ask-heidi/week-27/sleep-positions.aspx

 

[Anaconda]

I'm almost 19 weeks pregnant and still find myself on my back a lot. With my first I continued to sleep on my back until it became too uncomfortable.

Right now I feel fine.

I wouldn't worry about finding yourself on your back. Worry is worse I bet

 

[MummyToAmberx]

ive never avoided my back and wont this time either. x

 

[Elsa50501]

My doctor said I could do it until my body told me to stop. I think around 20 or 22 weeks was the first time that I had to stop. I was laying on my back in bed before going to sleep and all of a sudden my head got a weird kind of dizzy. Like, bloodloss about to pass out kind of dizzy. After that I tried to avoid it. Now, if I lay on my back for more than a few minutes (depending on the baby's position) I get the same dizziness.

They also said that you'll get tingly legs/arms that will wake you up if your body moves into that position at night while you sleep. That will usually wake you up.

At my last OB appointment (last Thursday at 24 weeks 5 days) my OB said, left side sleeping only at this point.

 

[DocMcStuffins]

Im 22 weeks and still sleep on my back. I did throughout with both previous pregnsncies.

My midwife told me it's never an issue for baby, but as baby gets heavier it might make it uncomfortable for me. So far I'm still fine, but if I get uncomfy then I'll just roll over.

X

 

[butterfly80]

I keep waking up on my back, it wakes me up as it is painful on my back so I then move back to my left. No matter what I do I wake on my back x

 

[odouglass]

I cannot fall to sleep on my back, but sometimes I do wake up on my back. I asked my doctor and he said to try to stay on my side as much as possible. I notice that my hands go numb when I am on my back, circulation. I would TRY to sleep on your side, but don't freak out if you're on your back.

 

[whigfield]

I always found this really confusing because I love sleeping on my back and still at 27+3 I'm not having any issues when I sleep on my back. Is this something that affects all women or am I just not being affected yet?

 

[Vic31]

I always wake up on my back. It's not unsafe for baby - it can just restrict blood flow to your heart. My midwife told me last time that you would wake up before you seriously restricted blood flow.

 

[ButterflyLuvx]

I couldn't from around 20 weeks. So uncomfortable .. I started getting heart palpitations and couldn't breathe probably.
Midwife said its all the extra blood pumping around.

Now I can't even lay on my back without getting out of breath lol.

So weird didn't have it with my daughter

 

[Jcliff]

You can lay on back as long as you want.. I would still do it but my hubby wakes me up and says I'm snoring lol whoops

 

[Selaphyna]

I still find myself laying on my back. I can't really prevent it. I flop around most of the night switching from position to position. All I notice is my hands tend to go numb and that's it. I'm 21+6. I start out on my side, and then most mornings I'm either on my tummy or on my back.

 

[Claire788]

I'm nearly 29 weeks and still wake up on my back, hate that I do it, but cant stop

 

[Selaphyna]

You can lay on back as long as you want.. I would still do it but my hubby wakes me up and says I'm snoring lol whoops

that's usually what happens with me. I snore (even when wasn't pregnant) when I lay on my back and if it gets bad for OH, he rolls me to my side, but because I'm pregnant, he's said even rolling me to my side hasn't helped lol. I use breathrite strips on nights he has to work early next morning so I dont' wake him as much.

 

[StranjeGirl]

My dr told me last pregnancy that it was perfectly fine all pregnancy unless you don't feel bad doing so. He worked in a high risk unit where the women were on bed rest and hooked up to a fetal monitor. The only time it became an issue was when the had to arch their back to put a bedpan underneath them. At that point the fetal heartrate would drop. As they were just lying normally on their back there were no issues. However, if you start to feel dizzy etc then it may be a bad position for you personally.