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2011-06-16 06:48:19
By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News
Pregnant woman sleeping Even among the women surveyed who lay on their right,
the risk remained extremely small
Experts want urgent research to see if the position a woman chooses to sleep in
during late pregnancy affects still-birth risk, as a study suggests a link.
The University of Auckland compared 155 women who had late still-births with
310 who had healthy pregnancies.
Sleeping on the back or right side, rather than the left, doubled the risk -
but only to almost four in 1,000.
Left-side lying aids blood flow to the baby, as the mother's major blood
vessels are unimpeded by a heavy womb.
The New Zealand study, published in the British Medical Journal, called for
larger studies to test the findings.
Ms Daghni Rajasingam of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
said: "There are many factors which are linked to still-birth including
obesity, increasing maternal age, ethnicity, congenital anomalies and placental
conditions. A significant number are unexplained.
Start Quote
We would like to see further research into sleep in pregnancy encouraged and
funded as a matter of urgency
End Quote Janet Scott of the stillbirth charity Sands
"This small-scale study looks at another possible factor. However, more
research is needed into sleep patterns before any firm conclusions over
sleeping positions can be made.
"In the meantime, women should speak to their midwives if they are concerned."
The UK has one of the highest still-birth rates in the developed world. Every
year here 4,000 babies are still-born.
A third of still-births have no clear cause.
Janet Scott, of the still-birth and neonatal-death charity Sands, said: "We
would like to see further research into sleep in pregnancy encouraged and
funded as a matter of urgency.
"The study will require further validation before any widespread public health
campaign could be justified.
"Mums want to know what they can do to reduce the chance of this happening to
their baby.
"A simple message which mums could follow, which would reduce their risk of
still-birth, would be very welcome."