When a pregnant woman arrives at the hospital in labor, we tell her to lie on her left side rather than lying flat on her back. The rationale behind this is that on your back, the baby can cause compression of the vena cava, a major blood vessel that passes under the uterus. During labor, a contraction itself can reduce blood flow to the baby and that compression on this vessel can exacerbate this decrease in blood flow.
A healthy baby can tolerate this without any difficulty, especially if you are not in labor. So don’t worry if you sleep on your back. Get rest while you still have a chance.
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"Can sleeping on your back hurt the baby?" was posted on Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 at 9:34 am.