Getting Adequate Rest In The Last Few Weeks Of Pregnancy Could
Give You An Easier Birth "It is well known that sleep
disturbance and fatigue are associated with adverse physical and
psychological outcomes, but this is the first study of its kind
to associate sleep disturbance in pregnant women with adverse
perinatal outcomes," said lead author Kathryn Lee, RN, PhD,
FAAN, professor and the James and Marjorie Livingston Chair in
the UCSF School of Nursing. According to Lee, women often
complain to healthcare providers about sleep problems during
pregnancy, yet little is known about how sleep affects the lives
of childbearing women. It is generally accepted that seven to
eight hours of sleep per night is the average needed for healthy
adults, while six hours of sleep or less per night is considered
severe sleep restriction, she said. The study assessed sleep of
131 women in their ninth month of pregnancy. Study findings
showed that women who slept less than six hours per night had an
average labor of 29 hours co