When you are pregnant, you may feel like you will never again have another good night’s rest. Especially once you have reached your second trimester. You may spend all night tossing and turning, only to find a comfortable position and then have to pee. Ah, the joys of motherhood. Fortunately, here are a list of best sleeping positions during pregnancy to help you get those much needed z’s.
First things first, laying flat on your belly and back are out. With your belly getting bigger, you are not going to be able to sleep on your stomach of course. You could sleep on your back, but it won’t be very comfortable. This is because there is a major vein that runs down the middle of your body called the vena cava, which brings blood back to your heart from the lower half of your body.
Lying on your back can make your already heavy uterus put pressure on this vein and can restrict the blood flow. This will probably make the lower half of your body start to go numb or can make you feel a little light-headed or short of breath. You want to make sure you keep good blood flow at all times during your pregnancy especially since this is how your little one gets their nutrients to grow.
The best way to sleep during pregnancy is on your side. You may want to invest in a body pillow. Body pillows are a pregnant woman’s best friend when it comes to getting some shut eye. Lying on your side with your top leg resting over the pillow is a great way for you to feel supported. It would probably be best if you let your belly rest on the pillow as well, so that your back and body don’t feel strained. This position would be the “half on your belly position”. You aren’t all the way on your belly, but you aren’t totally on your side. Many women get sick of sleeping on their side at some point.
Some women will also put some pillows or just one big pillow behind their back. This also helps ease the tension in your back while trying to sleep. You can also use this trick to half way lay on your back. Put the pillows behind you while laying on your side, then roll over just a bit onto the pillow. This allows proper blood flow and gives you a different position to try.
Last, but not least, is the reclining position, where women have altogether thrown out laying down and have resorted to a reclined sitting position with a pillow to rest their head on. Either way, to get some decent sleep during these tough months, you are going to need a lot of pillows! Good Luck!
References:
http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/ask-heidi/week-27/sleep-positions.aspx