Association of maternal sleep before and during pregnancy with sleep and developmental problems in 1-year-old infants

Kazushige Nakahara,Kiyoko Kato,Takehiro Michikawa,Mayumi Tsuji,Seiichi Morokuma,Masafumi Sanefuji,Masayuki Shimono,Shouichi Ohga,Toshihiro Kawamoto,Eiji Shibata,Masanobu Ogawa,Koichi Kusuhara

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-91271-7

Abstract

This study investigated the association of maternal sleep before and during pregnancy with sleeping and developmental problems in 1-year-old infants. We used data from the Japan Environment and Children’s Study, which registered 103,062 pregnancies between 2011 and 2014. Participants were asked about their sleep habits prior to and during pregnancy. Follow-up assessments were conducted to evaluate the sleep habits and developmental progress of their children at the age of 1 year. Development during infancy was evaluated using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ). Maternal short sleep and late bedtime before and during pregnancy increased occurrence of offspring’s sleeping disturbances. For example, infants whose mothers slept for less than 6 h prior to pregnancy tended to be awake for more than 1 h (risk ratio [RR] = 1.49, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.34–1.66), sleep less than 8 h during the night (RR = 1.60, 95% CI 1.44–1.79), and fall asleep at 22:00 or later (RR = 1.33, 95% CI 1.26–1.40). Only subjective assessments of maternal sleep quality during pregnancy, such as very deep sleep and feeling very good when waking up, were inversely associated with abnormal ASQ scores in 1-year-old infants.

Highlights

This study investigated the association of maternal sleep before and during pregnancy with sleeping and developmental problems in 1-year-old infants
We previously reported that maternal sleep habits, such as short sleep duration and late bedtime, both before and during pregnancy, were associated with the offspring’s sleep problems and temperament at 1 month of a ge[12]
Short sleep duration less than 6 h before pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of night waking for ≥ 1 h (RR = 1.49, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.34–1.66), Scientific Reports | (2021) 11:11834 |

Summary

Introduction

This study investigated the association of maternal sleep before and during pregnancy with sleeping and developmental problems in 1-year-old infants. Follow-up assessments were conducted to evaluate the sleep habits and developmental progress of their children at the age of 1 year. Factors related to developmental disorders include genetic ones and environmental (in utero) ones[8,9] Maternal lifestyle such as sleep pattern may affect the offspring’s sleep and development. We previously reported that maternal sleep habits, such as short sleep duration and late bedtime, both before and during pregnancy, were associated with the offspring’s sleep problems and temperament at 1 month of a ge[12]. This study aimed to expand on those findings and investigate the association between maternal sleep habits, before and during pregnancy, with offspring outcomes at 1 year of age

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Conclusion