Implications of study
The correlation between sleep disturbances and higher blood pressure
urges clinicians and researchers to recognize the importance of sleep
during pregnancy and explore ways to improve sleep antenatally.
Screening for sleep disruption is not routinely done in most obstetric
units. Short questionnaire on sleep quality can be incorporated into
routine obstetric care. Early identification of patients at risk of
sleep disturbances and intervention at early stage may offer some
benefit in pregnancy outcome. Studies on potential interventions in
improving sleep in pregnancy are rather limited. Stremler R et al
conducted a randomized controlled trial on the effect of
behavioural-educational intervention in improving sleep in postpartum
women. Although no significance was found in the primary outcome of
nocturnal sleep, it is still worth exploring intervention during early
pregnancy instead of postpartum when sleep is interfered by
breastfeeding significantly. Another interesting study recently reported
significant improvement of sleep in terms of longer sleep duration and
less sleep disruption with home-based cognitive-behavioural training
program during late pregnancy29. Further studies on
possible interventions antenatally to improve sleep and potentially
lower blood pressure would be valuable.