Although doctors often tell pregnant women it's safest to sleep on their left side, a new study suggests sleeping in other positions may not be a problem. Researchers examined data on outcomes for 8,709 pregnant women who completed at least one sleep questionnaire before they reached 30 weeks' gestation. Overall, 1,903 women, or 22%, experienced serious complications like dangerously high blood pressure, stillbirth or a newborn small for its gestational age.
Women who slept on their right side or on their back were no more likely to experience serious complications than women who slept on their left side, the study found. These results should reassure many pregnant women who might worry about harming their baby by sleeping on their back, or moving into this position during the night, said Dr. Robert Silver, lead author of the study and chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the…
