Women advised to sleep on side to help prevent stillbirth

[nitpicker]

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-42025835

Women advised to sleep on side to help prevent stillbirth

20 November 2017

From the section Health

Women are being advised to sleep on their side in the last three months of pregnancy to help prevent stillbirth. A study of just over 1,000 women found the risk doubles if women go to sleep on their backs in the third trimester. The study looked into 291 pregnancies that ended in stillbirth and 735 women who had a live birth.

Researchers say the position which women fall asleep in is most important - and they should not worry if they are on their back when they wake up. About one in 225 pregnancies in the UK ends in stillbirth and the study authors estimate that about 130 babies' lives a year could be saved if women went to sleep on their side.

The MiNESS study, published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (BJOG) is the biggest of its kind, and confirms findings from smaller studies in New Zealand and Australia.
(snip)

Researchers can't say for certain why the risk of stillbirth is increased - but there is a lot of data that suggests when a woman is lying on her back, the combined weight of the baby and womb puts pressure on blood vessels which can then restrict blood flow and oxygen to the baby.
(snip)

[phylny]

1. My "babies" are 32, 29, and 26. Doctors advised left-sided sleeping at that time to help

with blood flow, blood pressure, etc. IIRC.