Women who have sleep disorders during pregnancy are more likely to give birth to a premature baby, a study suggests.
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco sought to assess the effects of sleep disturbances in 2,265 pregnant women. The results were compared with healthy women without any sleep problems, but with the same maternal risk factors for early delivery. These risk factors included high blood pressure, smoking during pregnancy, and past history of a preterm birth.
The prevalence of preterm birth (before 37 weeks of gestation) was 14.6% for sleep-disorder affected pregnant women, compared with 10.9% for the healthy group. In addition, the probability of early preterm birth (before 34 weeks of gestation) was more than two-folds higher for pregnant women with sleep apnea and almost two-folds for those with insomnia.
The researchers stated that the number of severe complications was higher among women having early preterm deliveries. They believed that this number could be much higher if more women were screened for sleep disorders during pregnancy.
Source: Obstetrics & Gynecology Journal