Maternal Sleep and Fetal Outcome

Pregnancy is associated with profound changes in sleep. Up to 75% of pregnant women experience some form of sleep disruption during pregnancy. The emerging data from recent years suggests that sleep disturbances may represent a novel contributor to adverse pregnancy outcomes and that sleep disorders during pregnancy may affect both maternal and fetal outcomes. In spite of the increased awareness, information specifically addressing sleep disturbances and fetal outcomes is limited. The current review summarizes the existing published literature on the effect of short sleep duration, poor quality sleep and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) on the developing fetus.