Maternal sleep duration and neonate birth weight: A population-based cohort study

Marinelli, Marcella; Carsin, Anne-Elie; Turner, Michelle C.; Fernández-Somoano, Ana; Rodríguez Dehli, Cristina; Basterrechea, Mikel; Santa Marina, Loreto; Iñiguez, Carmen; Lopez-Espinosa, Maria-José; Sunyer Deu, Jordi; Júlvez Calvo, Jordi

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.13685

Maternal sleep duration and neonate birth weight: A population-based cohort study

Citation

Marinelli M, Carsin AE, Turner MC, Fernández-Somoano A, Rodriguez-Dehli AC, Basterrechea M, Santa-Marina L, Iñiguez C, Lopez-Espinosa MJ, Sunyer J, Julvez J. Maternal sleep duration and neonate birth weight: A population-based cohort study. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2022 Mar;156(3):494-501. DOI: 10.1002/ijgo.13685

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the association between maternal sleep duration (an important health indicator) and neonate birth weight. Methods: The study included 2536 mother-neonate pairs of a Spanish birth cohort (2004-2006, INMA project). The exposures were questionnaire-based measures of sleep duration before and during pregnancy. The primary outcome was neonate birth weight score (g) standardized to 40 weeks of gestation. Results: In women sleeping for <7 h/day before pregnancy, each additional hour of sleep increased birth weight score by 44.7 g (P = 0.049) in the minimally adjusted model, although findings were not statistically significant after considering other potential confounders (P > 0.05). However, increasing sleep duration for the group of mothers who slept for more than 9 h/day decreased birth weight score by 39.2 g per additional hour (P = 0.001). Findings were similar after adjusting for several sociodemographic confounders and maternal depression-anxiety clinical history as an intermediate factor. Similar but attenuated associations were observed with sleep duration in the second trimester of pregnancy. Conclusion: The relationship between maternal sleep duration before and during pregnancy and neonate birth weight is an inverse U-shaped curve. Excessive sleep duration may adversely affect neonate health through its impact on birth weight.