Sleep is an opportunity to reduce pregnancy-related severe morbidity and mortality

Maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity have been on an upward trend over the past couple of decades in the USA, contrasting other developed countries. Sleep disturbances are common during pregnancy and vary by group demographics, similarly to severe maternal morbidity. This narrative review focuses on highlighting the association between sleep and sleep impairment with severe maternal morbidity and mortality, as well as with adverse perinatal outcomes, making sleep disturbances a potentially modifiable risk factor for maternal morbidity and mortality. The review will also discuss some sleep interventions that are non-pharmacological and that may hold the prospect for reducing the risk of perinatal outcomes associated with severe maternal morbidity and mortality, without increasing the risk of teratogenicity. We also discuss knowledge gaps and potential focus of future research from testing the impact of sleep modification on pregnancy outcomes to the identification of sleep disturbances and disorders in perinatal care.