A five-year Australian study titled the 'Sydney Stillbirth Study' has found that pregnant women who sleep on their back may increase the risk of miscarriage or stillbirth.
Research funded by Stillbirth Foundation Australia looked at pregnancies of 295 women who were more than 32 weeks pregnant from eight hospitals around Australia.
The study found that women who sleep on their back are six times more likely to have a stillborn baby.
However, the researchers said it was important that women who are currently pregnant "don't become alarmed if they sometimes sleep on their back".
Adrienne Gordon, Lead researcher from Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital said, "Previous research suggested prolonged periods of lying in this position restricted blood flow to the baby".
In almost half of stillbirths, the direct cause of the baby's death cannot be established.
In 2011, a University of Auckland study found that mothers who slept on their back or right-hand side on the night before giving birth were twice as likely to have a stillborn child compared to those who slept on their left.
A stillborn baby is a baby born dead after 24 weeks of pregnancy. If the baby dies before 24 completed weeks, it is known as a late miscarriage.
(with inputs from IANS)
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