Restless sleep in third trimester may protect against stillbirth

Meanwhile, daytime naps and long overnight sleeps increase risk, say researchers
Clare Pain
Pregnant woman having trouble sleeping

Restless sleep reported by many women in the final trimester of pregnancy may be a physiological mechanism protecting the fetus from the risk of late stillbirth, international researchers say.

The unexpected finding emerged from a meta-analysis of five case-control studies in which 851 women who had a stillbirth at or after 28 weeks’ gestation, or intrapartum, were compared with 2257 other pregnant women who went on to have a live birth.