Short report
Sleep in pregnancy: Evidence of foetal-sleep characteristics

https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-510X(67)90039-1Get rights and content

Abstract

Consecutive nocturnal recordings in pregnant women have shown:

  • 1.

    (1) The percentage of P.S. increased during the final 2 months of pregnancy and reached proportions comparable to those found in new-born children of the same gestational age.

  • 2.

    (2) Stage 4 disappeared between the 4th and 6th month of pregnancy.

  • 3.

    (3) Quiet sleep was associated with a stage 2 or 3 characterized by periodic outbursts of slow waves similar to stages b and c of premature and new-born children.

  • 4.

    (4) During stages 2 and 3 some ocular movements occurred.

  • 5.

    (5) Foetal movements were more numerous during P.S. and awakening but less frequent during quiet sleep.

  • 6.

    (6) Delay from sleep-onset until the first P.S. decreased when P.S. increased and stage 4 disappeared.

  • 7.

    (7) During the first two weeks after delivery, the mother's sleep pattern retains the characteristics found during the final month of pregnancy, and at 2 months the percentage of P.S. reached again its normal value although it still remained labile.

References (24)

  • P. Martin du Pan

    Établissement du rythme circadien chez le nouveau-né et le nourrisson

    (1966)
  • B.J. Meyerson

    Central nervous monoamines and hormone-induced estrus behaviour in the spayed cat

    Acta physiol. scand.

    (1964)
  • Cited by (19)

    • Overview of Sleep in Children

      2019, Sleep and ADHD: An Evidence-Based Guide to Assessment and Treatment
    • Sleep-related disordered breathing during pregnancy in obese women

      2001, Chest
      Citation Excerpt :

      Because obesity as a health problem is increasing in women in many parts of the world,25 these findings may have potentially serious implications for the health of their fetuses. The sleep parameters in the pregnant women of the present study are in accordance with previous findings.2678 Both groups of women slept more when monitored during early pregnancy, although this was not associated with marked sleepiness as evaluated by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale.

    View all citing articles on Scopus

    This research has been sponsored in part by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research through the European Office of Aerospace Research, OAR, U.S. Air Forces, under contract AF 61(0959)-949 and supported by a grant from the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique.

    View full text