This study aimed to find out different patterns of sleep disturbances in pregnancy and their effect on mother and fetus. A questionnaire-based prospective observational study was conducted at the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Women with sleep disturbances at start and during pregnancy included in the study were interviewed and examined at recruitment, at 24–32 weeks of gestation, and at term. Of 103 enrolled patients, 99 were followed up till delivery. All the recruited patients developed insomnia. “Changes in sleep-disordered breathing status” was associated with development of hypertension (p = 0.003), albuminuria (p = 0.037), and gestational diabetes mellitus (p = 0.012). It was also associated with 1-min APGAR score of <7 in newborns (p = 0.013). Association between sleep parameters and other fetomaternal outcomes, labor, and delivery is statistically insignificant. Insomnia is the most common sleep problem among women having sleep disorders. Little short-term effect on babies’ health (such as low 1-min APGAR score) was found in women having sleep disorders, but no comment can be made on the longterm effects as these were not assessed in this study.
Bourjeily G. Sleep disorders in pregnancy. Obstet Med 2009;2:100–106.
American Academy of Sleep Medicine. International classification of sleep disorders, revised: Diagnostic and coding manual. Chicago, IL: American Academy of Sleep Medicine; 2001.
Lee KA, Gay CL. Sleep in late pregnancy predicts length of labor and type of delivery. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2004;191:2041–2046.
Joel-Cohen SJ, Schoenfeld A. Fetal response to periodic sleep apnea: A new syndrome in obstetrics. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 1978;8:77–81.
Brain KA, Thornton JG, Sarkar A, Johnson AO. Obstructive sleep apnoea and fetal death: Successful treatment with continuous positive airway pressure. BJOG 2001;108:543–544.
Lopes EA, de Carvalho LBC, da Costa Seguro PB, et al. Sleep disorders in pregnancy. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2004;62(2-A):217-221.
Suri JC, Sen MK, Suri J, Vaidya S, Adhikari T. Epidemiology of sleep disorders in pregnant subjects: A questionnaire based survey. Indian J Sleep Med 2009;4(3):106–113.
Naud K, Ouellet A, Brown C, Pasquier JC, Moutquin JM. Is sleep disturbed in pregnancy? J Obstet Gynaecol Can 2010;32(1):28–34.
Williams MA, Miller RS, Qiu C, Cripe SM, Gelaye B, Enquobahrie D. Associations of early pregnancy sleep duration with trimester-specific blood pressures and hypertensive disorders in pregnancy. Sleep 2010;33(10):1363–1371.
Qiu C, Enquobahrie D, Frederick IO, Abetew D, Williams MA. Glucose in tolerance and gestational diabetes risk in relation to sleep duration and snoring during pregnancy. A pilot study. BMC Womens Health 2010;10:17.
Loube DI, Poceta JS, Morales MC, Peacock MD, Mitler MM. Self-reported snoring in pregnancy. Association with fetal outcome. Chest 1996;109(4):885–889.
Bourjeily G, Raker CA, Chalhoub M, Miller MA. Pregnancy and fetal outcomes of symptoms of sleep disordered breathing. Eur Respir J 2010;36;849–855.
Reutrakul S, Zaidi N, Wroblewski K, et al. Sleep disturbances and their relationship to glucose tolerance in pregnancy. Diabetes Care 2011;34:2454–2457.
Okun ML, Roberts JM, Marsland AL, Hall M. How disturbed sleep may be a risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes. Obstet Gynecol Surv 2009;64(4):273–280.