Nightmare frequency in last trimester of pregnancy.

Michael Schredl,Michael Deuschle,Barbara Scharnholz,Maria Gilles,Verena Peus,Marc Sütterlin,Isabell Wolf

doi:10.1186/s12884-016-1147-x

Abstract

BackgroundPregnancy-related dreams are often found in pregnant women but also the number of negatively toned dreams seems to be increased in this challenging phase of a woman’s life.MethodsNightmare frequency and subjectively experienced stress was elicited via questionnaires. The mothers-to-be were approached during their application visit about 4–8 weeks prior to delivery in three obstetric hospitals. The present analysis included 406 women aged 16–40 years in the last trimester of their pregnancy. Women with severe somatic illnesses and/or psychiatric disorders were excluded. The representative sample included 496 women (age range: 14–93 years.).ResultsThe findings clearly indicate that pregnant women report nightmares more often compared to a representative sample and that nightmare frequency is closely related to subjectively experienced stress during daytime. Moreover, baby-related dreams were correlated with nightmare frequency but not with day-time stress.ConclusionsFuture studies should investigate the prevalence of nightmare disorders in pregnancy and study whether brief interventions like Imagery Rehearsal Therapy are beneficial for pregnant women suffering from nightmares.

Highlights

Pregnancy-related dreams are often found in pregnant women and the number of negatively toned dreams seems to be increased in this challenging phase of a woman’s life
The present study clearly indicates that pregnant women report nightmares more often compared to a representative sample and that nightmare frequency is closely related to subjectively experienced stress during daytime
As insomnia during pregnancy might be a predictor for post-partum depression [57], it might be interesting to study whether frequent nightmares during pregnancy might have some predictive value with respect to postpartum mental disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder due to childbirth [58]

Summary

Introduction

Pregnancy-related dreams are often found in pregnant women and the number of negatively toned dreams seems to be increased in this challenging phase of a woman’s life. Is sleep altered during pregnancy but dreaming is affected – with dreaming defined as subjective experiences occurring during sleep [4]. Research indicated that pregnancy-related worries like loss, danger to the fetus/baby or giving birth to a deformed baby occurred in dreams during pregnancy [23,24,25]. The number of these negatively toned dreams correlated with day-time

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion