Sleeping Less Than 7 Hours During Pregnancy Puts Baby at Risk of Growth Delays
A new study has found that lack of sleep in pregnant women may increase the risk of delayed neurological development in their children. The study defines insufficient sleep as “less than seven hours” per night, a problem faced by nearly 40% of pregnant women due to hormonal changes, discomfort, and frequent urination.
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The study, led by Dr. Bing Zhu from Anhui Medical University in China, showed that women with sleep deprivation are more likely to experience glucose tolerance issues, which can lead to complications such as insulin resistance or gestational diabetes.
These issues, in turn, seem to affect the child’s neurological development, exposing these children to a higher risk of delays in developing social, emotional, behavioral, and motor skills.
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Researchers analyzed data from 7,059 mother-child pairs from three hospitals in China and monitored the children’s growth from 6 months to 3 years, aiming to determine the link between maternal sleep deprivation during pregnancy and neurological development delays in children.
The study found that children, especially boys, whose mothers suffered from sleep disorders were more likely to experience neurological development delays. These findings suggest a role of gender in the fetus’s response to environmental factors before birth.
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Researchers noted that sleep deprivation may impact the mother’s glucose metabolism, which in turn affects the fetal growth environment.
The study also found a link between C-peptide levels in umbilical cord blood and neurological development delays in children, indicating that maternal metabolic disorders may affect the fetus’s insulin secretion and neurological development.
Dr. Zhu concluded by saying that “prenatal health is important not only for the mother but also for the child’s long-term health,” stressing the importance of managing sleep health during pregnancy to reduce the risk of neurological development issues in children.
