Pregnant moms know to avoid sushi, high heels, roller coasters, and alcohol. But researchers are increasingly shining the spotlight on the role of high quality and quantities of sleep during pregnancy, for both the mom and the growing baby.
Sleeping while pregnant can be a challenge, but a recent study has found a link between short sleep duration (SSD) during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental delays in boys. (1) SSD is classified as sleeping less than 6 hours each night. Most pregnant women can tell you they’ve been there, tossing and turning to get comfortable, and fighting heartburn and achy backs and more. Unless, of course, you are this guy’s wife, who went TikTok viral for inventing a way for his pregnant wife to comfortably sleep on her belly.
But short sleep durations come at a cost, in some cases. The Chinese study had 7,059 mother-child participants and used data collected during 24 to 28 weeks pregnant and 32 to 36 weeks pregnant using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Additionally, neurodevelopmental data was evaluated from 6 to 36 months postpartum.
The study revealed a strong correlation between mothers who had SSD from 24-36 weeks and developmental delays in their offspring, specifically boys. The study further examined the relationship between cord blood serum, the level of C-peptide in the serum and neurodevelopmental delays and found that there may be an association between higher C-peptide levels found in the cord blood and developmental delays.
This adds to a growing body of research showing the connection between increased pregnancy complications and sleep issues or disorders. A 2024 study found that there is a connection between sleep disorders during pregnancy and an increased risk of gestational diabetes. (2) A 2023 study found that poor sleep quality can lead to poorer fetal outcomes, including premature labor and delivery. (3)
So, what’s a tossing and turning pregnant woman to do, other than wake up in the night worrying about their son’s neurodevelopment from their insomnia? Learning about the basics of pregnancy and sleep can help you understand what’s normal, what’s not, what to try, and when to get some help. Some of the most common obstacles include difficulty getting comfortable, frequent trips to the bathroom, leg cramps, back pain, breast tenderness, and vivid dreams.
There are numerous interventions to try, some by yourself and some with your medical team, including:
- Sleep hygiene and bedtime routine: Eliminate screens a few hours before bed, dim the lights, and create a wind-down routine. It’s great practice for life with a newborn too, to help them understand night and day and hopefully get them asleep a bit faster each evening.
- Meditation: Even if you aren’t a meditator, sitting quietly outside or in your favorite spot in your home and trying to clear your mind and breathe deeply can restore rest, relaxation, and calm in your mind — which might transfer to your sleep.
- Therapy: Something on your mind? If you’re about to bring a human into the world, there’s plenty to worry about. Reaching out to a therapist to help with these concerns can mean less percolating on the world’s problems, and how you’re going to pay for college 18 years from now, at 3 a.m.
- Exercise: It might sound like the last thing you want to do while pregnant, but exercise is proven to have a connection to sleep health, and movement in your pregnancy is healthy and necessary as well. Try a ten minute walk after dinner, and you just might see a downturn in those pesky middle of the night leg cramps!
Finally, remember to cut yourself some slack. Even though there are risks to not sleeping, as long as you are doing the best you can to get the most quality sleep possible, you are doing enough, and you are enough.
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Sources
1. Lei Zhang, Hai-xia Wang, Wen-xiang Li, Yuan-yuan Zhu, Rui-rui Ma, Yu-hong Wang, Yu Zhang, Dao-min Zhu, Peng Zhu, Association of Maternal Short Sleep Duration With Neurodevelopmental Delay in Offspring: A Prospective Cohort Study, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2024;, dgae569, https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgae569
2. Eleftheriou, D., Athanasiadou, K.I., Sifnaios, E. et al. Sleep disorders during pregnancy: an underestimated risk factor for gestational diabetes mellitus. Endocrine 83, 41–50 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-023-03537-x
3. Cai, Y., Ma, G. & Fan, J. Effects of sleep quality in early pregnancy on pregnancy outcomes and mood state. Sleep Breath 28, 1079–1087 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-023-02968-0
