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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2023 Feb 1;19(2):371-377.
doi: 10.5664/jcsm.10350.

Daytime napping and nighttime sleep in pregnant individuals with insomnia disorder

Sylvia E Badon  1 , Jessica R Dietch  2 , Norah Simpson  3 , Deirdre J Lyell  3 , Rachel Manber  3
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Daytime napping and nighttime sleep in pregnant individuals with insomnia disorder

Sylvia E Badon et al. J Clin Sleep Med. .

Abstract

Study objectives: Examine bidirectional associations between daytime napping and nighttime sleep among pregnant individuals with insomnia disorder.

Methods: We used baseline data from a randomized controlled trial of insomnia treatment during pregnancy (n = 116). Participants in their second or third trimester of pregnancy self-reported daytime napping and nighttime sleep parameters using a sleep diary and wore an Actiwatch-2 during the same 7-day period. Linear regression models, accounting for intraindividual correlation, were used to estimate associations between daytime napping and nighttime sleep parameters (duration, efficiency, quality, awakenings). Models were also stratified by trimester of pregnancy.

Results: Sixty-three percent of participants reported napping on at least 1 day. Among participants in the second trimester (65%), napping 15-59 minutes was associated with 6.3% greater self-reported sleep efficiency (95% confidence interval: 2.3, 10.2) and 0.5 units greater self-reported sleep quality (95% confidence interval: 0.0, 0.9) that night; napping 60+ minutes was associated with 0.6 hours shorter actigraphy-measured sleep duration (95% confidence interval: -1.0, -0.2). Napping was not associated with nighttime sleep overall or during the third trimester. Nighttime sleep parameters were not associated with napping duration the following day.

Conclusions: Among pregnant individuals with insomnia in the second trimester, short napping duration was associated with higher self-reported sleep efficiency and quality; long napping duration was associated with shorter actigraphy-measured sleep duration. Additional research is needed to examine the interaction between nap duration and nap timing. In the future, these results may lead to more nuanced recommendations for daytime napping among pregnant individuals with insomnia disorder.

Clinical trial registration: Registry: ClinicalTrials.gov; Name: Treatment for Insomnia during Pregnancy; URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01846585; Identifier: NCT01846585.

Citation: Badon SE, Dietch R, Simpson N, Lyell DJ, Manber R. Daytime napping and nighttime sleep in pregnant individuals with insomnia disorder. J Clin Sleep Med. 2023;19(2):371-377.

Keywords: insomnia; napping; pregnancy; sleep.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors have seen and approved this manuscript. Work for this study was performed at Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research, Stanford University School of Medicine. This study was funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (R01NR013662). Sylvia Badon was supported in part by the Postdoctoral Training Program in Women’s and Children’s Health supported in part by Community Health, Kaiser Permanente Northern California and additionally funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (K99HD100585). The authors report no conflicts of interest.

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