New study highlights common insomnia issues among women during pregnancy

A new study has demonstrated a need for a greater focus on the problem of insomnia among women during pregnancy.

The University of Granada research assessed 486 healthy pregnant women from Spain before the 14th week of pregnancy – the first trimester – and analysed their sleep habits and patterns.

It was shown that 44 percent of pregnant women suffer from insomnia in the first trimester of pregnancy, which increases to 46 percent in the second trimester and 64 percent in the third trimester.

This is a potential cause for concern, as insomnia not only affects women's quality of life, but is also a risk factor for high blood pressure and pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, depression, premature birth and unplanned caesarean sections.

Dr Maria del Carmen Amezcua Prieto, a lecturer at the University of Granada's department of preventive medicine and public health, said: "There is a tendency to assume that difficulties related to getting to sleep and maintaining restorative sleep are characteristic phenomena of pregnancy and that they must be endured."

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