A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found that pregnant women who do not get enough sleep are at a greater risk of giving birth to children with delayed neurodevelopment.
The study indicated that children born to women who slept less than seven hours a day on average during pregnancy showed significant effects on neurodevelopment, with boys being particularly vulnerable. Insufficient sleep during pregnancy was linked to abnormalities in emotional, behavioral, motor, cognitive, and language development in these children.
It also found increased C-peptide levels in these children’s umbilical cord blood, indicating altered insulin production. C-peptide is a byproduct produced when the pancreas generates insulin.
Furthermore, the research confirmed that conditions previously associated with insufficient sleep during pregnancy, such as impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, and gestational diabetes, can influence a child’s neurodevelopment.
Although the research team could not definitively prove that sleep deprivation directly causes neurodevelopmental delays, they explained that maternal glucose metabolism during pregnancy may affect fetal insulin secretion, subsequently impacting neurodevelopment.
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