UC Irvine

Objective

To investigate the effect of an antenatal diet and exercise intervention during pregnancy on sleep duration. As a secondary objective, associations between sleep duration and gestational weight gain (GWG), maternal metabolic parameters and pregnancy outcomes were assessed.

Design

Secondary analysis.

Setting

Large tertiary Maternity Hospital in Dublin, Ireland.

Population

326 women with overweight or obesity who participated in the Pregnancy Exercise And Nutrition Research Study (PEARS) randomised controlled trial between March 2013 and August 2016.

Methods

Secondary analysis of a randomised trial.

Main outcome measures

Impact of the PEARS intervention on sleep duration, and association of sleep duration and maternal metabolic parameters, and pregnancy outcomes.

Results

Participants had a mean age of 32.5 ± 4.5 years and median (interquartile range [IQR]) body mass index of 28.3 (26.6-31.2) kg/m² . The intervention group had a longer sleep duration in late pregnancy (mean difference 17.1 minutes (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.5-33.7) and a higher proportion achieving optimum sleep duration of 7-9 h (54.3 vs. 42.9%, relative risk [RR] 1.28 (95% CI 1.01-1.62). In late pregnancy, sleep duration of <6 h was associated with lower breastfeeding rates on discharge (RR 0.74, 95% CI 0.57-0.95) and higher triglyceride levels (mean difference 0.24, 95% CI 0.10-0.38). There were no significant associations between sleep and incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus or pre-eclampsia/toxaemia, or other metabolic parameters assessed (insulin, fasting glucose, HOMA-IR).

Conclusion

A diet and exercise intervention from early pregnancy may promote longer and optimal sleep duration, with maternal benefits such as lower triglyceride levels and higher breastfeeding rates.