Prolonged antepartum hospitalization: no time for rest

Abstract

Objective: To characterize sleep patterns among pregnant women undergoing prolonged antepartum hospitalization.

Study design: We conducted a prospective cohort study of women undergoing prolonged antepartum hospitalization after 20 weeks' gestation. Women were recruited to wear an Actigraph, complete a sleep log for 7 consecutive days, and complete a sleep survey at the end of the study period. Actigraphy was used to determine rest and sleep intervals, sleep onset latency, and wake time after sleep onset.

Results: A total of 40 participants were recruited, and 28 had ≥ 5 nights of data for a total of 177 nights of antepartum sleep data. Mean gestational age was 30 weeks. Median sleep duration was 7.05 h ± 1.71 h. In all, 43.5% of women had an average sleep duration of <7 h per night. In all, 28.2% of the study nights had a bedtime between midnight and 5 am. Going to bed between midnight and 5 am was significantly associated with sleep durations of <7 h (70.7 vs. 32.5%, p < .001). Participants reported an average of 2.4 awakenings per night due to hospital-related events.

Conclusions: Prolonged antepartum hospitalization has a negative impact on sleep duration and quality.

Figure 1. Distribution of sleep duration in hours across all study nights (n=177)

Curve represents normal distribution. X-axis: duration of sleep in hours, Y-axis: number of sleep nights.

Figure 2. Mean sleep duration (hours) per study participant (n=28)

Error bars represent +/− 1 standard deviation. Reference line at 7 hours per night. X-axis: participant ID, Y-axis: mean sleep duration in hours.