The Smart Mother’s Guide to a Better Pregnancy Giveaway

Should pregnant women sleep on their left side?

Dr. Linda Burke-Galloway is a board-certified ob-gyn.  She is an advocate for quality healthcare, patient safety and author of The Smart Mother’s Guide to a Better Pregnancy.  In her book she says that sleeping on the left side or right side is fine, but that sleeping on your back should be avoided.  Here are some information from the book, which is sold in bookstores and Amazon.

“Our organs and tissues require oxygen to function. Without it, they essentially die. Blood from the lower part of our body flows back to the heart where it receives oxygen, compliments of a large blood vessel called the Inferior Vena Cava (IVC). The inferior vena cava is a large, thin-walled blood vessel located near the spine. As the pregnant uterus becomes enlarged, it can press against the IVC and reduce the amount of its blood flow. Why is that not good? Because it reduces the circulating blood flow in the body that is commonly known as our cardiac output (CO). When the pregnant uterus squeezes the IVC and reduces cardiac output, a woman might feel dizzy and even faint. Her blood supply of oxygen is reduced and the unborn baby’s is as well. When a pregnant woman in her early or late third trimester feels faint after lying flat on her back, the syndrome is called Supine Hypotensive Disorder. Her blood pressure has dropped because her cardiac output has dropped. The heart can only pump out what comes into it, so less blood into the heart means less blood going out of the heart and the patient feels faint. How is this avoided? By encouraging pregnant women in their third trimester to sleep on their left side.”

“What happens when a pregnant woman sleeps on her left side? The uterus is no longer compressing the thin-walled IVC but lies against the thick-walled aorta instead. The aorta brings oxygenated blood away from the heart and to essential organs and tissues. Because of its thickness it’s not affected by the weight of the pregnant uterus. What if you can’t sleep on your left side? Then sleep on your right side but avoid sleeping flat on your back.”

Although medical studies have allegedly not proven that sleeping on the left side reduces stillbirths, it is still sound advice to avoid maternal and fetal complications.”

We at home practice the Islamic etiquettes of sleeping.  Sleeping on the right side applies to everyone not only pregnant mothers.  First, we remove things that are not safe off the bed, make sure all things hazardous is removed or put away i.e. candles.  Then we ask God to protect us from the evil by saying a prayer and sleep on our right side facing the the direction of pray Mecca (Qiblah).  It is known to be unhealthy to sleep on the stomach so we don't sleep on our stomach.

You can receive a copy of this book, The Smart Mother's Guide to a Better Pregnancy by leaving a comment on this post.  The giveaway is open world wide (Hard copy of the books to winner in Canada and USA and e-book to every where else in the world).  Giveaway ends on the 15th of July.
Update: Congrats to Sarah

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