title: 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 degrees tilt, five a left 60 degrees tilt, two a left 30 degrees tilt, 11 adopted a full 90 degrees 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield.
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Chaffe
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular / Q000517:prevention & control; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D016683:Supine Position / Q000502:physiology