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.
Keywords: breastfeeding; metabolism; nutrition; obesity; obstetrics; pregnancy; sleep; triglycerides; weight.
© 2022 The Authors. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.