Sleep During Pregnancy and Offspring Outcomes From Infancy to Childhood: A Systematic Review

Objective: Prenatal sleep problems have been previously linked to poor birth outcomes. However, much less is known about the associations between poor prenatal maternal sleep and offspring outcomes after birth. The purpose of this systematic review was to synthesize the findings linking prenatal maternal sleep health and offspring health and development during infancy and childhood.

Methods: A total of 4650 nonduplicate articles were identified via PsycInfo and PubMed databases. After screening and full-text review, 34 articles met the inclusion criteria and were extracted for information.

Results: The bulk of studies in this review (n = 19; 76.5%) were published between 2019 and 2024. Measures of prenatal sleep included sleep timing, quality, sleep disorders and/or symptoms of disorders, and daytime sleepiness. Offspring outcomes were categorized as follows: a) sleep health (e.g., nighttime sleep duration, night wakings), b) physical health (e.g., body mass index, hospitalizations), c) child developmental outcomes (e.g., global development, negative affect, executive functioning), and d) brain structure and function (e.g., brain volume, event-related potentials). Evidence consistently links poor prenatal sleep health to poorer offspring sleep, higher body mass index, higher prevalence of physical health conditions, poorer global development, and more behavioral problems. Emerging evidence also links prenatal sleep to differences in offspring brain structure and function.

Conclusions: Poor prenatal maternal sleep health may be an environmental signal that informs offspring health. Future studies are needed to fully understand the pervasive, intergenerational, and long-lasting effects of sleep across pregnancy.