THE ESSENTIAL
- In a study of 3,922 pregnant women, 565 slept less than seven hours during pregnancy and for two to seven years after giving birth.
- This persistent lack of sleep is correlated with a higher risk of metabolic syndrome, which corresponds to the association of several disorders linked to the presence of excess fat inside the belly.
- No association with hypertension was observed.
Heartburn, back pain, frequent urge to urinate… These symptoms make pregnant women’s nights difficult and can even lead to insomnia. After giving birth, their sleep is also disrupted, because their baby does not yet sleep fully during the first months of life. Problem: this persistent lack of sleep is harmful to the cardiometabolic health of mothers. This is what researchers from Northwestern University (United States) recently revealed in a study published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
3,922 women were followed during their first pregnancy
To reach this conclusion, they recruited 3,922 pregnant women, aged over 18, from eight American university medical centers. Between October 1 and September 30, 2023, they were followed during their first pregnancy and several years after their delivery. Participants were asked about their sleep duration. Next, the team used regression models to estimate the relative risks of hypertension and metabolic syndrome based on sleep duration. As a reminder, metabolic syndrome corresponds to the association of several disorders linked to the presence of excess fat inside the belly. “The people concerned have a large waist circumference and at least two other abnormalities among the following: hyperglycemia (excess sugar in the blood), a high triglyceride level, a low level of ‘good’ HDL cholesterol, blood pressure too high”, specifies Inserm.
Persistently sleeping less than 7 hours is linked to increased risk of metabolic syndrome
According to the results, 565 people (or 14.4%) suffered from persistent lack of sleep, that is, they slept less than seven hours during pregnancy and for two to seven years afterwards. childbirth. Black and unmarried volunteers were significantly more likely to experience persistent sleep deprivation than Caucasian and married participants. The authors noted that persistent lack of sleep was associated with a higher risk of metabolic syndrome. However, there was no association with hypertension. “Future research should examine whether targeted sleep interventions during and after pregnancy are associated with improved cardiometabolic outcomes, particularly in populations at increased risk,” can we read in the conclusions.
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