Is the position you sleep, affecting your health?

According to a New Zealand study, pregnant women who slept on their back or right side doubled their risk of stillbirths. Active! asks experts about the best position for men and women to sleep in, to reduce health risks, including acidity

In a recent study, the University of Auckland compared a relatively small sample size of women who had stillbirths to those who had healthy pregnancies and found a link between sleep position and stillbirth risk.
Pregnant women who lie on their back or right side might double the risk of giving birth to a stillborn baby: a child that dies inside the mother's womb.



The study. based on observing 155 women who had stillbirths with 310 women who had healthy pregnancies (465 women), found that sleep position is likely to affect roughly four in every 1,000 women. Experts caution, however, against drawing any sweeping conclusions, as the study was done on too small a sample.

Dr Suman Bijlani says, "As gynaecologists we do recommend that women six months pregnant and over sleep on the left side. This increases blood flow to the major organs, and therefore boosts blood supply to the unborn child. However, it is not always possible to sleep in one position the entire night. So, we suggest to them to lie on their left for at least half an hour to an hour everyday."

Dr Bijlani goes on to explain that because of the weight of the uterus in the latter stages of pregnancy, major blood vessels get compressed when the woman lies on her back. This results in a decrease in cardiac output or the amount of blood the heart pumps per beat, and thereby decreases the blood flow to the rest of the body, including the foetus.

Best advice for pregnant women? Get eight hours of sleep and avoiding "stressors" of any kind, suggests Bijlani.

Causes of stillbirths
Sleep position, however, is not a major cause of stillbirth. "Stillbirths can happen because of several factors.

These include high blood pressure, diabetes, less or excess fluid in the womb, intrauterine infections, intrauterine growth restriction (poor growth of the baby inside the womb), abnormalities of the umbilical cord and placenta to name a few."

Severe infections, including malaria and dengue, are among the other causes of stillbirth. The simplest way to cut stillbirth risk, according to Dr Bijlani, is for pregnant women to not skip their regular check-ups. "This helps identify and monitor a high-risk pregnancy."

Lateral is best
According to chest physician Dr Ashok Mahashur, who heads Hinduja Hospital's sleep clinic, lateral positions (sleeping on either the left of the right side) are ideal positions to sleep in for both men and women.

"In the supine position (sleeping on one's back), the breathing tubes and air passages are narrowed, which increases pressure on the breathing," he says, adding, "The prone position (sleeping on one's stomach) is the worst position to sleep in, as it applies pressure on the stomach, pushing up the diaphragm and reducing lung expansion, which restricts breathing."

Those with a snoring problem are therefore better off sleeping on one side, as opposed to on their backs. "The prone position should be especially avoided on a full stomach, to avoid acidity."

What sleep position says about you

Q. Do you sleep very close together facing the same direction, while the partner on the outside puts an arm around the other?
Ans. Yes? This sleeping position is called Spooning.

What this means: Most popular with new couples, this position represents your unconscious attempt at fusing with your partner, and desire to be as close to him/ her as possible. It's not a very comfortable position though.

Q. Do you sleep with your head on the other person's shoulder as s/he lies on his/ her back?
Ans. Yes? This sleeping position is called The Royal.

What this means: This position indicates comradeship and protection. Typically, the more 'dependent' partner in the relationship rests his/ her head on the other's shoulder.

Q. Do you sleep with your legs and arms intertwined?
Ans. Yes? This sleeping position is called The Love Knot.

What this means: This position, popular with those who have just fallen in love, implies a need to intertwine oneself in the other person's life.

Q. Do you sleep with your backs facing each other, but butts touching the other person's?
Ans. Yes? This sleeping position is called The Zen Style.

What this means: You are bonded sexually, but also enjoy your independence. This is a common position for couples who have been together for a long time.

Q. Do you sleep on one side of the bed, with your partner on the other side, barely touching all through the night, and mostly facing opposite directions?
Ans. Yes? This sleeping position is called The Cliff-hanger.

What this means: This position typically has a huge gap between the two bodies. It may indicate the presence of tension in the relationship, and is perhaps a sub-conscious way of showing that both partners are drifting away from each other. However, this may also be the couple's way of maximising the space that they have on the bed.

Compiled by Dhvani Solani (dhvani.solani@mid-day.com)

What the study says

The University of Auckland compared 155 women who had late stillbirths with 310 women who had healthy pregnancies. The study found that pregnant women, who slept on their back or right side, rather than the left, doubled the risk of having stillbirths. This would be the equivalent of roughly four in 1,000 women. Experts have suggested urgent research to see if the position a woman chooses to sleep in during late pregnancy actually affects stillbirth risk. According to sleep specialist Dr Ashok Mahashur, sleeping on one's stomach is the worst position to sleep in on a full stomach.


1u00a0 Supine position (on back)
2u00a0 Prone position (on stomach)
3u00a0 Foetal position (lateral position)
4u00a0 Recovery position (lateral position)
5u00a0 Spooning (lateral position)