19/02/2025
Sleeping on your back during pregnancy? 🤷♀️
I’ve heard so many women stress over the fact that they wake up in the middle of the night and they are on their backs! 😰😱
I want to let you know that IF you wake up in the middle of the night on your back, don’t FRET! Just roll over.
The reason WHY providers advise against spending long periods of time on your back during pregnancy is this:
You have big blood vessels that run down your body.
These blood vessels are responsible for feeding & filtering blood to all the parts of your body!
When you lie on your back, ESPECIALLY during late pregnancy, your large, heavy, uterus may compress your inferior vena cava and decrease blood flow back to your heart.
When blood flow to your heart is decreased, blood flow to the rest of your organs is decreased. Including...
YOUR PLACENTA!
When you decrease blood flow to your placenta, baby can get less blood flow, which means less oxygen. So it CAN be dangerous.
LUCKILY if this is actually happening, you will likely become symptomatic after sometime because your other organs are getting less blood flow too!
You may become dizzy, light-headed, nauseated, etc.
That’s a defense mechanism that your body provides you, it tells you when something is up and you need to change positions if you feel crappy!
So, moral of the story, just roll over! Don’t panic because you woke up on your back! You may have woken up because your body is telling you it’s time to roll over! 💕