A new campaign is encouraging mothers to sleep on their side during the final stages of pregnancy to prevent stillbirths.
New research shows mothers who lay on their back in the last three months of pregnancy put extra pressure on major blood vessels.
This reduces the blood flow to the womb and oxygen supply to the baby.
The Sleep On Your Side campaign - launched by The University of Auckland, Cure Kids and the Ministry of Health - aims to help expectant mothers reduce the risk of having a stillborn baby.
The campaign says it is normal for people to move around in their sleep, but encourages mothers to roll back on their side if they wake up lying on their back.
Around 160 babies are stillborn in the last three months of pregnancy each year in New Zealand.
Newshub.
