Stillbirth link to sleep position
Source: Agencies |
June 16, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
WOMEN who do not sleep on their left side on their last night of pregnancy have double the risk of late stillbirth compared with women who do sleep on their left side, according to a study from New Zealand.
The researchers who conducted the study said women should not worry because the increased risk is still very small - the chance of the baby being stillborn rises to 3.93 per 1,000 for those who don't sleep on their left from 1.96 per 1,000 for those who do.
A significant link was also found between sleeping regularly during the day, or sleeping longer than average at night, and late stillbirth risk, the researchers said.
Tomasina Stacey of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Auckland, whose study was published in the British Medical Journal, suggested that restricted blood flow to the baby when the mother lies on her back or right side for long periods may explain the link.
But she said the findings, which were based on a relatively small number of women, needed to be confirmed by larger, more detailed studies before any public health advice could be given.
"It's a new hypothesis and means we should start to look at this problem much more closely. It's really a starting point for future research," Stacey said.
If the findings were confirmed, they might offer a simple, cheap and natural way to cut the number of stillbirths, she said. "It's something that's very easily modifiable. You don't need to take any drugs and there are no side effects."
The researchers who conducted the study said women should not worry because the increased risk is still very small - the chance of the baby being stillborn rises to 3.93 per 1,000 for those who don't sleep on their left from 1.96 per 1,000 for those who do.
A significant link was also found between sleeping regularly during the day, or sleeping longer than average at night, and late stillbirth risk, the researchers said.
Tomasina Stacey of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Auckland, whose study was published in the British Medical Journal, suggested that restricted blood flow to the baby when the mother lies on her back or right side for long periods may explain the link.
But she said the findings, which were based on a relatively small number of women, needed to be confirmed by larger, more detailed studies before any public health advice could be given.
"It's a new hypothesis and means we should start to look at this problem much more closely. It's really a starting point for future research," Stacey said.
If the findings were confirmed, they might offer a simple, cheap and natural way to cut the number of stillbirths, she said. "It's something that's very easily modifiable. You don't need to take any drugs and there are no side effects."
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