Sleeping positions adopted by pregnant women of more than 30 weeks gestation

Abstract

The position adopted during sleep by 52 pregnant women and 31 age‐matched nonpregnant control subjects was studied. The pregnant group were all beyond the 30th week of gestation. In the pregnant group, 40 (77%) adopted a left tilt, 11 (21%) a right tilt and one (2%) was supine. In the control group, eight (26%) adopted a left tilt, 10 (32%) a right tilt, 12 (39%) were supine and one (3%) was prone. Closer analysis of the position adopted by the pregnant group showed: 33 adopted a full left 90° tilt, five a left 60° tilt, two a left 30° tilt, 11 adopted a full 90° right tilt and only one was supine. There was a significant difference between the sleeping positions of the pregnant and the control groups (p < 0.001). The majority of the pregnant group adopted a sleeping position that reduced the likelihood of aortocaval compression syndrome. Copyright © 1994, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved