Listen Now: 
October 28, 2013
Researchers say sleep important for mums to be
Waatea Team
Posted On October 28, 2013
Massey University researchers have identified bad sleep as a contributor to problems in pregnancy and afterwards.
Dr Leigh Signal and Dr Sarah-Jane Paine have been conducting E Moe Mama, investigating sleep changes in Maori and non-Maori women in late pregnancy and post birth.
They found a third of pregnant Maori women are sleeping less than six hours in their last trimester.
They linked that to rates of pre-natal depression at least as high as that of post-natal depression.
Just over one in four Maori women and one in seven non-Maori women screened during pregnancy had signs of clinical depression.
Poorer sleep duration and quality increased the chances of requiring a caesarean to give birth and having a small baby.
Copyright © 2013, UMA Broadcasting Ltd
RELATED NEWS
