This is important, O’Brien says, because low blood pressure has been linked with fetal growth problems, preterm birth and stillbirth.
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It’s possible, then, that these brief increases in blood pressure are able to prevent long periods of relatively low pressure. She notes that blood pressure reaches its lowest point during sleep but when someone is awakened, there is a surge in nervous system activity that causes transient increases in blood pressure. O’Brien says further studies need to delve deeper into what may drive the relationship between maternal sleep and stillbirths, with particular focus on how the autonomic nervous system - the control system that regulates bodily function - and the hormonal system are regulated during sleep in late pregnancy. “While multiple awakenings during the night may concern some women, in the context of stillbirth it appears to be protective.” Sleep patterns and maternal health “Pregnant women often report waking up and getting up in the middle of the night,” says lead author Louise O’Brien, Ph.D., M.S., a researcher in the Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Neurology, and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Michigan Medicine. SEE ALSO: Increasing Rates of Chronic Conditions Putting More Moms, Babies at Riskīut researchers caution that further research is needed to better understand the relationship and what it means for pregnant women.
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The findings, which appear in the journal Birth, suggest an association between lengthy periods of undisturbed maternal sleep and stillbirths that were independent of other risk factors. LISTEN UP: Add the new Michigan Medicine News Break to your Alexa-enabled device, or subscribe to our daily audio updates on iTunes, Google Play and Stitcher. Sleeping more than nine hours per night during pregnancy may be associated with late stillbirth, a new study suggests.Īn international team of researchers led by Michigan Medicine analyzed online surveys of 153 women who had experienced a late stillbirth (on or after 28 weeks of pregnancy) within the previous month and 480 women with an ongoing third-trimester pregnancy or who had recently delivered a live born baby during the same period.