Why is it recommended that pregnant women sleep on their left side

Why do doctors recommend that a pregnant woman should sleep on h…?

http://jsk.gov.in/pregnancy.asp

Although sleeping on the back may be more comfortable to start with, it leads to backaches and haemorrhoids, and inhibits digestion, breathing and circulation .This is because the entire weight of the uterus on the back. Whereas, stretch…

Related Questions Answered on Y!Answers

Ever wake up with a numb hand?

Q: I’m 24 weeks pregnant now. First baby. I sleep on my left side as recommended and with a pillow between my legs to relieve my back pains. I noticed the past two days, I woke up with my right hand numb, especially my last two digits. I wasn’t sleeping on it. In fact, it was resting on a pillow in front of my chest. It started to tingle when I started moving my fingers and then the numbness went away in minutes.I got scared at first because I had read about preeclampsia but according to the internet, that is not a symptom and my blood pressure has been fine. I read on WebMD for pregnant women to soak their hand in warm water for numbness but it also said not to sleep on your hand which wasn’t the cause to begin with.Does anyone else have this problem? And why does it happen anyways?

A: That tends to happen when your arm is in a certain position during sleep. It can happen when you’re awake, too, but when you’re sleeping, you tend to end up in different positions when you wake up than when you went to bed. The numbness happens when nerves get pinched from certain positions. The best thing to do is change positions as much as you can. You’ll probably start waking up more often to go pee as your pregnancy progresses, so make sure you go back to bed in a different position than you were in before. You may not have been sleeping directly on your hand, but pinched nerves in your shoulder, arms, and even neck can cause numbness in your hands, so just make sure you change positions as often as you can. You can also try rearranging your pillows a little bit. If it keeps happening, let your doctor know at one of your visits. Fluid can accumulate in your wrists as your body retains water, so that could also contribute to the numbness. Just let your doctor know, and they might be able to make some suggestions to help you.