Abstract
BackgroundThere is emerging research to suggest that supine maternal sleep position in late pregnancy may adversely affect fetal wellbeing. However, these studies have all been based on maternal report of sleeping position. Before recommendations to change sleep position can be made it is important to determine the validity of these studies by investigating how accurate pregnant women are in reporting their sleep position. If avoiding the supine sleeping position reduces risk of poor pregnancy outcome, it is also important to know how well women can comply with the instruction to avoid this position and sleep on their left.MethodThirty women in late pregnancy participated in a three-night observational study and were asked to report their sleeping position. This was compared to sleep position as recorded by a night capable video recording. The participants were instructed to settle to sleep on their left side and if they woke overnight to settle back to sleep on their left.ResultsThere was a moderate correlation between reported and video-determined left-side sleep time (r = 0.48), mean difference = 3 min (SD = 3.5 h). Participants spent an average of 59.60% (SD = 16.73%) of time in bed on their left side (ICC across multiple nights = 0.67). Those who included left side among their typical sleep positions reported significantly longer sleep during the study (p<0.01).ConclusionsOn average participant reports of sleep position were relatively accurate but there were large individual differences in reporting accuracy and in objectively-determined time on left side. Night-to-night consistency was substantial. For those who do not ordinarily sleep on that side, asking participants to sleep on their left may result in reduced sleep duration. This is an important consideration during a sleep-critical time such as late pregnancy.
Highlights
There are a number of health care settings where it is important for the care provider to gather information about the client’s typical and recent sleeping position
There is emerging research to suggest that supine maternal sleep position in late pregnancy may adversely affect fetal wellbeing
Given the wide individual differences in accuracy and the importance of the accuracy of selfreported sleep position, future prospective studies which further explore the possible association between maternal sleep position and poor pregnancy outcome would benefit from supplementing maternal report with an objective measure such as IR camera or a body position sensor
Summary
There are a number of health care settings where it is important for the care provider to gather information about the client’s typical and recent sleeping position These include conditions involving muscular pain, heart burn, respiratory issues and commonly, obstructive sleep apnoea [1]. Method: Thirty women in late pregnancy participated in a three-night observational study and were asked to report their sleeping position. This was compared to sleep position as recorded by a night capable video recording. Participants spent an average of 59.60% (SD516.73%) of time in bed on their left side (ICC across multiple nights50.67) Those who included left side among their typical sleep positions reported significantly longer sleep during the study (p,0.01). This is an important consideration during a sleep-critical time such as late pregnancy
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