THURSDAY, Oct. 3, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Maternal short sleep duration (SSD) during midpregnancy is associated with an increased incidence of neurodevelopmental delay in boys, according to a study published online Sept. 26 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Lei Zhang, Ph.D., from the School of Public Health at Anhui Medical University in Hefei, China, and colleagues examined the association between SSD in pregnancy and offspring neurodevelopmental delay in a cohort study involving 7,059 mother-child pairs from the Maternal & Infants Health in Hefei cohort. Sleep data during pregnancy were collected at weeks 24 to 28 and 32 to 36. Neurodevelopmental outcomes were assessed from six to 36 months postpartum.

The researchers observed a significant association between mothers with SSD during midpregnancy and neurodevelopmental delay in boys (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.05). In an analysis of cord blood markers, a positive relationship was seen between cord blood serum C-peptide levels and neurodevelopmental delay in offspring (relative risk, 0.04). Cord blood C-peptide mediated 11.05 percent of the association between SSD and neurodevelopmental delay.

“Maternal SSD was positively linked with an increased frequency of neurodevelopmental delay in neonates,” the authors write. “We provide new evidence that cord blood serum C-peptide partly mediates the association of SSD in midpregnancy with neurodevelopmental delay in boys.”

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