Sleep in pregnancy – top tips and positions

There are so many reasons that the way you sleep during pregnancy is key, both for the wellbeing of baby and for the mother. However, it is definitely easier said than done. It is not helped by the fact that the advice around this issue can be very confusing! Therefore, I wanted to set straight the facts about how best to sleep during pregnancy, and the best techniques for using a pregnancy pillow to help maintain your position!

Im so grateful to Clare Bourne, Specialist Women’s and Men’s Health Physiotherapist at Six Physio for writing this blog with me, and sharing her expertise. It has been written in collaboration with bbhugme, creators of our favourite pregnancy pillow!

Advice for sleep in pregnancy

Why is it important?

• It’s common to feel tired, or even exhausted, during pregnancy, especially in the first 12 weeks.
• Hormonal changes at this time can make you feel tired, nauseous and emotional. The only answer is to rest as much as possible.
• As your bump gets bigger, it can be difficult to get a good night’s sleep. You might find lying down uncomfortable or that, just when you get comfortable, you have to get up to go to the loo!
• You may experience strange dreams which disturb your sleep
• Pregnancy insomnia is also a common symptom
  • Try not to let it bother you if you can’t sleep, and remember it won’t harm your baby.
  • If you can, nap during the day and get some early nights during the week.
  • Avoid tea, coffee or cola drinks in the evening, as the caffeine can make it harder to go to sleep.

The importance of sleep position

The Midlands and North of England Stillbirth Study (MiNESS) found that going to sleep lying on your back causes a 2.3-fold increased risk of late stillbirth (after 28 weeks’ gestation) compared with women who go to sleep on their side.

Therefore the advice is to go to sleep on your side for any episode of sleep in the third trimester, including:

• going to sleep at night
• returning to sleep after any night wakenings
• day time naps

Dont worry if you wake up on your back!

• The going-to-sleep position is the one held longest during the night
• If you wake up on your back, you should simply roll back onto your side.

Does it have to be the left side?

The MiNESS study did not find a difference in risk between sleeping on the right or left side.

The Tommy’s #sleeponside campaign recommends that women can go to sleep on either side.

Benefits of using a pregnancy pillow

Apart from the comfort of nestling into a soft, cool pillow, there are several benefits to using a pregnancy pillow whilst you sleep:

• Allows you to maintain your sleeping position
• Helps to keep your hips and knees symmetrical to reduce the risk of PGP and to improve the symptoms you may already be experiencing
  • If you want more information on pelvic pain, including tips for improving the symptoms, watch out for another blog post coming very soon on this topic!
• It can take off the weight on key pressure points
• If you do roll during your sleep, the presence of the pillow can help you to contract the muscles to get adductors and gluteal muscles firing

Why we recommend the bbhugme pillow!

Both Clare and myself have been recommending this pillow, long before we were pregnant ourselves or involved in this collaboration. Having been familiar with other competitor produts, we strongly believe this is the best pregnancy pillow product on the market!

It has many features which are beneficial, both to help maintian sleep position and mange pelvic pain problems during pregnancy:

• It is very lightweight and easy to mould into different shapes
• This pillow fits nicely into a travel bag so can be taken with you. You may find even a night without the support maintaining position can change your experience of sleep and pelvic pain!
• The cover fabric doesn’t attract heat and feels cooling to touch
• Pillow ends are adjustable – it can be customised to your own body to make it rigid enough to keep symmetry when placed between your legs
• It can be used postnatally as well to support your back and pelvis to prevent your back collapsing whilst feeding

Use code 164 at checkout for 10% off – affiliate link!

How to use a pregnancy pillow for sleep

Make sure the pillow is under your knees and ankles as this helps to keep symmetry at your pelvis. As your bump gets bigger, place the pillow underneath it to support you. This helps to prevent your top leg slipping forwards which can cause some pelvic discomfort.

Some women find it helpful to have the pillow under their waist as shown in the image above. This helps to keep your spine straight, which can help with muscle tension and lower back discomfort.

It can also help if you are experiencing rib pain. We are all different so try both out and see what works before for you and your body

Whilst using a pregnancy pillow during sleep may not prevent all pelvic girdle pain, by keeping your knees and ankles in a symmetrical position it may help prevent the symptoms from worsening. If you are experiencing ongoing pelvic pain, ask your midwife or doctor to refer you to a Women’s Health physiotherapist for specific advice and exercises that can help improve your symptoms.

This blog post has been written in collaboration with bbhugme. For more information on their products, head over to www.bbhugme.com