Sleep apnoea, insomnia during pregnancy unrelated to infant outcomes

Despite testing positive in unadjusted analyses, the impact of sleep apnoea and insomnia in pregnancy on infant outcomes appears nonsignificant, a recent study has found.

Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of 3,371 women with sleep apnoea and 3,213 with insomnia. A parallel group of 2,952,660 participants without sleep disorders was included as a control. After propensity score matching, 2,357 and 2,212 participants remained in the respective sleep disorder groups. Adverse infant outcomes were determined from birth certificates.

Compared with healthy controls, women who had sleep apnoea during pregnancy were 10 percent more likely to give birth to infants with any adverse outcomes (odds ratio [OR], 1.1, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.0–1.3).

This effect was driven by the excess risk of neonatal intensive care unit stay upon birth admission (OR, 1.4, 95 percent CI, 1.1–1.7) and of a 1-minute Apgar score <7 (OR, 1.6, 95 percent CI, 1.3–2.0). Sleep apnoea during pregnancy likewise aggravated the likelihood of having infants needing an emergency room visit (OR, 1.2, 95 percent CI, 1.0–1.3).

Similar findings were reported for insomnia during pregnancy, which increased the likelihood of any adverse outcome in the infant by 20 percent (OR, 1.2, 95 percent CI, 1.1–1.3). Emergency room visits were also more likely to occur in these infants (OR, 1.2, 95 percent CI, 1.1–1.4).

“Sleep apnoea and insomnia may be windows into the overall health of pregnant individuals and offer low-stigma targets for assessment of risk of adverse infant outcomes,” the researchers said.