THE IMPACT OF SLEEP QUALITY ON HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN
Date
2025-05
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Pregnancy is a vulnerable time marked by many physical and emotional
challenges. During pregnancy, women face a lot of added stressors and may deal with
mental and emotional hardships. Pregnancy can also be difficult as the pregnant
women envisions how their life will change once they are responsible for a child that
is dependent upon them. Fluctuations in hormones can disrupt many other biological
processes that happen in the body. This can impact energy levels, emotional states,
and mental health. Pregnant women are often considered to be a vulnerable
population due to the health risk to both the mother and the developing fetus.
Pregnant women also tend to experience worsened health outcomes and may
develop conditions during pregnancy that effect long-term health outcomes. For
example, preeclampsia, which is high blood pressure and often high protein found in
the urine after pregnancy. Poor health during pregnancy may also lead to poor
outcomes for the child, including preterm birth or even stillbirth. Cardiovascular
disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally and is estimated to account for
over 17 million deaths annually. Cardiovascular disease encompasses many different
conditions that relate to the heart and the blood vessels. Some of the diseases that
are classified as cardiovascular disease include heart disease, heart attack, stroke,
heart failure, and arrhythmia. During pregnancy, many women develop high blood
pressure which often leads to cardiovascular disease later in life. These complications
of pregnancy are important and should be prioritized as a point of public health
importance.
Sleep habits are an important factor that impacts health in a variety of ways.
Good quality sleep is also something that many pregnant women struggle with due to
the physical changes that occur during pregnancy. It is important that sleep habits
such as sleep duration, frequency of sleep disturbances, and prevalence of sleep
disorders is investigated to understand how pregnant women are affected by their
sleep. Sleep habits and increased blood pressure are highly correlated however, not
many studies have explored pregnant women as the population of interest in relation
to sleep and the intersection with high blood pressure. Additionally, much of the
existing literature has examined the relationship cardiovascular disease and
obstructive sleep apnea but have not examined other sleep habits.
The purpose of this systematic review is to examine how sleep habits, which
includes other than just sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, impacts on blood
pressure in pregnant women. To examine this relationship, a systematic review was
conducted using three databases. Originally, 404 articles were screened and at the
end, twelve studies were left to be reviewed and used for data analysis to compare
findings. Overall, across the twelve studies, results showed similar findings;
specifically, that poor sleep increases the risk of hypertension among pregnant
women. These results are consistent across findings. Future studies can explore other
aspects of cardiovascular health as well as use consistent measures across studies in
order to draw larger and more complex comparisons across studies or explore this
topic as a meta-analysis. The findings of this research can help guide future
interventions or programs tailored to educate pregnant women on the importance of
working with this population to improve their heart health and sleep quality.