Study Objectives: To assess whether daytime naps negatively impact nocturnal sleep. Design: Longitudinal, prospective cohort design. Participants: 161 pregnant women recruited and evaluated in early gestation (10-20 weeks). Measurements and Results: Daily sleep information was collected in three 2-week periods (10-12, 14-16, and 18-20 weeks gestation) with a daily sleep diary and an actigraph. The average number of naps, as well as the average length of each nap, were calculated from sleep diaries. Women were categorized fi rst as non nappers (0 naps/2-week period), moderate nappers (1-3 naps/2-week period), or frequent nappers (≥ 4 naps/2-week period). Then, based on the average nap length, they were categorized as short (< 90 min) or long (≥ 90 min) nappers. Nocturnal sleep parameters included SOL, WASO, SE, and TST. SAS procedure MIXED was used for modeling the main effects of nap group and time, and time by nap group interactions. Women who took naps had a decrease in diary-assessed nocturnal TST, but not actigraphy-assessed TST. This observation was group-and time-specifi c. There were no other group differences. Women who napped ≥ 90 min had poorer diary-assessed SE and lower diary-assessed TST than those who took shorter naps. Length of nap was not associated with any other sleep measures.
Conclusions:The number of daytime naps have minimal impact on nocturnal sleep parameters; however, long nappers did exhibit modestly impaired sleep continuity and sleep quality. Overall, we propose that daytime naps provide a benefi cial countermeasure to the sleep disruption commonly reported by pregnant women. This may be clinically benefi cial given that sleep continuity and quality are important correlates of pregnancy outcomes. T he majority of expectant women experience progressively disturbed, fragmented, and shortened nocturnal sleep as a result of normal physiological adaptations to the progressing pregnancy.1-3 Emerging evidence indicates that insuffi cient quantity and poor sleep quality are associated with increased risk of mood dysregulation , 4,5 as well as adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth and gestational diabete s.
6-8When suffi cient nighttime sleep is not possible or unattainable, certain strategies can be implemented to counteract the negative effects of disturbed nocturnal sleep. One promising approach is to include daytime naps as part of a healthy sleep hygiene progra m.
9-11There is limited information examining the effects of daytime naps on nocturnal sleep outcomes in non-pregnant populations. The majority of evidence stems from examination of daytime naps in elderly or middle-aged individuals or children. The bulk, however, consider daytime naps as a positive health behavior (a "countermeasure") in that they can effectively combat subjectively reported poor sleep quality and decrease subjective daytime sleepiness by augmenting shortened nocturnal sleep durat ion.11-14 However, there is also a small literature that suggests that naps can be detrimental to nocturnal sleep and ne...