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6 Proven Tips for Sleeping with Pillow Between Legs While Pregnant

I remember when I was pregnant, there are a lot of Dos and Don’t when it comes to sleeping position in bed. Especially when you are a first-time parent, you are afraid that a bad sleeping position may cause a mishap or damage to the little one in the womb. Sometimes, you may also feel uncomfortable with your previous regular sleeping positions during pregnancy. You may also be overwhelmed by the information out there and just want to make sure you are doing it right for your baby in the tummy. I will share some of my 6 proven tips for sleeping with pillow between legs while pregnant.

Sleeping with pillow between legs while pregnant

Try these useful tips:

• 1) Get into position by keeping your knees and legs bent with a pillow between legs
• 2) Using a firm pillow will reduce stress on your lower back and hips
• 3) If you are having heartburns, try propping your upper body with pillows
• 4) Short of breath? Try sleeping on your side or propped up with pillows
• 5) Sleeping on your left side increase the amount of nutrients and blood reaching to your placenta and baby
• 6) Placing a pillow under your abdomen helps if you are experiencing back pain

Why do pregnant people sleep with a pillow between their legs

Why do pregnant people sleep with a pillow between their legs? It is because the best sleeping position during pregnancy is sleep on side(SOS). In order to achieve that position, you have to put a pillow between your legs while you keep your knees and legs bent. Hence, this will be extremely useful when you are experiencing shortness of breath during late pregnancy.  

Why is it good to sleep with a pillow between your legs

If you are sleeping without a pillow between your legs while pregnant, you are putting unnecessary stress on your hips and back which may affect your spine health. (Source) The pillow helps to ensure that your pelvic area and hips are aligned which eliminates pressure while adding extra comfort.

[The Ultimate Pregnancy Pillow Guide 2019]

Furthermore, it helps to relieve the stress on your hips, preventing any rotating or causing any misalignment of the spine. The slight elevation of putting a pillow between your legs helps to improve blood circulation. For the best effect, do use a firm pillow to put between your legs.

What happens if you accidentally sleep on your back while pregnant

It is normally not recommended to sleep on your back while pregnant.(Source) If you accidentally sleep on your back while pregnant, you may start to experience problems like breathing challenges,  affect your digestive system and may cause low blood pressure. It may also affect the circulation to your heart and baby. According to research,  the worst case scenarios may increase the chance of stillbirths to occur. (Source) 

Sleeping upright while pregnant

You may like to consider a new sleeping position as sleeping upright while pregnant may not be ideal after your 1st trimester. The weight of your uterus may cause disruption of blood flow making you feel dizzy or short of breath. This would apply to all episodes of sleeping including day time naps, sleeping at night or interrupted period of sleep. (Source)  This is also a sleeping position to avoid to decrease stillbirth probability during pregnancy.

Sleeping on right side during pregnancy

Sleeping on right side during pregnancy have always been recommended due to the benefits it provides to your little one and your body. As you are accustomed to your regular sleeping position before pregnancy, you may like to start adjusting to this new sleeping position from your first trimester.

Even though sleeping on the side is the highly recommended sleeping position for pregnancy, there are differences in sleeping on right side during pregnancy against sleeping on left side during pregnancy.  Do check with your doctor on what he or she will recommend.

Sleeping on left side during pregnancy

Some doctors would advise you to sleep on the left side during pregnancy to avoid putting any pressure on your organs like liver or kidneys. 

According to Dr. Grace Pien, an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the crucial piece of the puzzle lies with the mother’s inferior vena cava (IVC), a large vein that runs along the right side of the spine and is responsible for returning blood from the bottom half of the body to the heart. (Source)

“If a pregnant woman is lying on her back, the fetus is more likely to compress the inferior vena cava, decreasing the amount of blood returned to the heart. (Source)

There are not many studies comparing the difference between sleeping on the left or right side is better but in theory sleeping on left side actually will cause less compression on the large vein. This sleeping position increases the circulation of blood and nutrients to the fetus.

How to sleep during pregnancy in first trimester

During the first trimester, you will most probably be trying to test out different sleeping positions which you feel will be most comfortable and safe. 3 common sleeping positions will be sleeping on the back, on the tummy or on the side.

As mentioned above, sleeping on the back is not an ideal position for pregnancy even though it is a common sleeping position for you previously. You can still choose to sleep on your tummy during the first trimester as your tummy will not be that big then.

The only downside is that sleeping on your tummy may cause you to tilt your head sideways for breathing. This may cause some neck problems down the road. Hence, most of the time during the latter stages of your trimester, you may start to switch to sleeping on the side as your tummy grow bigger. You may find it difficult to adjust to this position but it may be the best position for sleeping during pregnancy.

To conclude sleeping with pillow between legs while pregnant

I adjusted to sleeping with pillow between legs while pregnant which increase the quality of my sleeping time. Based on the recommendations and benefits of this sleeping position, I would highly recommend this for any pregnant mummies out there.  Feel free to share and comment on your personal experience below.  For other pregnancy related tips,  check out also 7 Fruits to Eat During Early Pregnancy and 8 Ways to have a happy newborn baby