Sleep and pregnancy

Pregnancy is associated with many maternal physiological and psychological changes both of which may have an effect on sleep. In the first trimester, hormonal changes may disrupt sleep and in the third trimester the large baby and the anxiety regarding delivery may have associated effects on sleep. Likewise post-partum, a newborn may disrupt sleep patterns.

The review by Lee in 1998 demonstrated that there was a paucity of studies, which addressed the alterations of sleep in pregnant women, moreover many of these studies lacked sufficient power to allow consistent interpretation and replication of the results (Lee, 1998). Since then a number of studies have now been conducted but more research is still required to establish whether for example, a woman’s pre-pregnancy sleep pattern can affect outcome and to determine whether there is any effect of parity on sleep related maternal and foetal outcomes.

The changes in circadian rhythm of various hormones and the associated changes to sleep architecture that occur throughout pregnancy are discussed by Wolfson and Lee (2005) in ‘The Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine’ (Kryger, Roth and Dement (Eds)).

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