Poor sleep for mothers-to-be raises risk of birth problems

Newly pregnant women who get less than five hours sleep a night are more likely to suffer from problems in birth, research shows.
They are ten times more at risk from pre-eclampsia, a condition which causes high blood pressure, leading to organ damage and even the death of the unborn baby.
It can also be fatal for the mother who, once diagnosed, is given a Caesarian or drugs to induce the birth prematurely.

Having a lie in: Pregnant women are advised to sleep for longer than eight hours

Mothers-to-be who get five hours sleep or less a night within the first 14 weeks are ten times more at risk, the American researchers found.

During sleep, a person's average blood pressure falls by between 10 and 20 per cent.

This means that those who sleep for fewer hours a night will have a higher-than-average blood pressure over a 24-hour period.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1316698/Poor-sleep-mothers-raises-risk-birth-problems.html