Maternal Sleep Quality and Health Outcomes

Maternal sleep quality undergoes profound changes throughout pregnancy as hormonal, physiological and psychosocial factors alter sleep architecture and duration. Common disturbances include insomnia, fragmented sleep, nightmares and sleep-disordered breathing. Poor sleep during gestation has been linked to adverse health outcomes for both mother and child, encompassing metabolic dysregulation, hypertensive disorders, gestational diabetes, elevated stress responses, mood disturbances and increased risk of preterm birth. Postpartum, unresolved sleep problems can exacerbate postnatal depression and impair maternal–infant bonding. At a population level, recognising and addressing sleep disturbances in pregnancy offers a modifiable avenue to improve perinatal health, reduce complications and support long-term well-being. Multidisciplinary approaches that integrate sleep hygiene education, cognitive-behavioural strategies and targeted screening in antenatal care settings are emerging as key components of maternal health services worldwide.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Maternal Sleep Quality and Health Outcomes publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in maternal sleep quality and health outcomes across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI): A validated questionnaire measuring subjective sleep quality and disturbances over a one-month period.
Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM): Glucose intolerance first recognised during pregnancy, associated with maternal and neonatal complications.
Preterm Birth: Birth occurring before 37 completed weeks of gestation, linked to increased neonatal morbidity and mortality.
Insomnia: Persistent difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, leading to daytime impairment.
Sleep Architecture: The structure of sleep stages (light sleep, deep sleep and rapid eye movement sleep) and their cyclical pattern through the night.

References

1. Prevalence of Poor Sleep Quality in Perinatal and Postnatal Women: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. Frontiers in Psychiatry (2020).
2. Association of sleep quality during pregnancy with stress and depression: a prospective birth cohort study in China. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (2019).
3. Association between maternal sleep duration and quality, and the risk of preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (2020).