Best Sleeping Positions During Pregnancy (Trimester Wise)

A good night’s sleep is very important for a pregnant mother. It not only helps mothers recover mentally but also physically. But as the pregnancy advances sleep time decreases due to discomfort while sleeping, body aches, heartburns and also increase in the anxiety of childbirth.

Finding a comfortable sleeping position is very important but most difficult to find. Not every mother is comfortable in one particular position.

During The 1st Trimester:

The problem is not that big because the uterus is a pelvic organ and has not grown in the abdomen so no discomfort. During the first three months, the expectant mother can sleep in any position – on her back, on her tummy, right lateral or left lateral.

But as the pregnancy advances the uterus starts growing in the abdomen and starts compressing major blood vessels of the abdomen, essential organs like intestines, kidneys and ureters and also pushes the diaphragm up thereby causing difficulty in breathing.

So lying straight on the back can cause a lot of problems for mothers like backache, haemorrhoids, difficulty in breathing, difficulty in digestion and the worst is decreased blood supply to the baby because of compression of major blood vessels. 

During 2nd & 3rd Trimester:

So the best sleeping position for the second and third trimester of pregnancy is the left lateral or right lateral position but left lateral is the preferred one. It not only improves the blood supply to the baby but also keeps the mother comfortable throughout the night.

But if the mother finds comfort in the right lateral also then that is also not a problem. She can improve her comfort by adding a few extra pillows below her leg or a pillow below her tummy that can provide support to the falling belly along with an extra pillow in between legs.

Sleep during pregnancy is very important otherwise women who get less sleep that is less than 6 hours in a day can develop gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and increased incidence of caesareans. That’s why it is important to find something between comfort and an ideal sleeping position.

So that sleep is comfortable and the baby is also not compromised.

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