Often stay up late when pregnant? this is 6 harm & bull; hello healthy

Staying up late has long been known to have a direct negative impact on a person's physical and psychological condition. In fact, staying up late in the long term has also been linked to an increased risk of a number of chronic diseases, from diabetes to heart disease. But it turns out, often staying up late while pregnant carries a myriad of risks.

What is the danger if the mother often stays up late during pregnancy?

Poor quality and duration of sleep are common among pregnant women. It's not just a matter of going back and forth to the restroom all night, but also after your stomach gets bigger, it's hard to sleep comfortably. Not to mention having to deal with the symptoms of insomnia, which are also common during pregnancy. Even women who generally sleep soundly experience difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, so many choose to stay up late until the early morning.

Not getting enough sleep during pregnancy can have a detrimental impact not only on the health of the mother but also for the baby in her womb.

1. Staying up late during pregnancy increases the risk of preterm labor

Half of all preterm birth cases have no known cause, but staying up late while pregnant is one of the potential causes. Research has shown that lack of sleep can compromise the immune system by causing an overproduction of cytokines.

For most people, excess cytokines attack and destroy healthy cells, rendering the body's immune system unable to fight disease. For pregnant women, elevated levels of cytokines can affect the performance of blood vessels in the spine that lead to the placenta, thereby increasing the chances of preterm birth and depression. Depression during pregnancy is a risk factor for serious labor complications.

2. Staying up late during pregnancy increases the risk of preeclampsia

Women who were still pregnant but didn't get enough sleep (less than five hours per night) in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy were reported to be 10 times more likely to develop preeclampsia, a condition that causes high blood pressure. The complications of preeclampsia include organ damage and even death of the unborn baby. It can also be fatal for women who have had a cesarean section or have been prescribed labor-inducing drugs after being diagnosed with preeclampia.

3. Staying up late during pregnancy increases the risk of high blood pressure

A person's average blood pressure drops by 10 to 20 percent during sleep. This means that mothers who stay up late while pregnant will have higher than normal blood pressure over the next 24-hour period. Even though the increase in blood pressure is quite small, it still affects the way your heart functions during pregnancy. Not getting enough sleep also changes levels of the hormones endothelin and vasopressin. Both work to adjust the size of blood vessels throughout the body, which affects blood pressure.

4. Staying up late during pregnancy increases the chances of a cesarean section

A number of studies have found that women who sleep less than six hours per night during the final months of pregnancy are more likely to have a C-section. For pregnant women who wish to have a normal delivery, this can be a particular concern.

But there are also potential risks associated with cesarean delivery. Delivering by caesarean section is known to pose a risk of respiratory problems for the child later in life. Babies born by caesarean section also frequently have low Apgar scores, a scale of scores that shows how healthy your baby was at birth.

5. Staying up late during pregnancy prolongs the normal delivery process

Mothers who sleep less than six hours per night during the final months of pregnancy are at higher risk for having long-term normal deliveries. Labor that takes a long time (defined as labor that lasts more than 24 hours) can be painful and uncomfortable for the mother, but prolonged labor can also have a negative impact on the baby.

For example, prolonged labor increases the risk of the baby inhaling meconium particles into the lungs, which can be dangerous because they interfere with normal breathing. According to the World Health Organization, labor that takes a long time also increases the baby's risk of infection.

6. Mothers stay up late during pregnancy, children are at risk of being overweight

Staying up late during pregnancy, especially during the third trimester, increases the chance of weight gain and metabolic abnormalities in children once they reach adulthood, according to a 2014 study published in the journal Diabetes. The researchers attributed excess weight and metabolic changes to epigenetic modifications that reduce adiponectin gene expression.

Adiponectin is actually a beneficial hormone. It is a hormone that helps the body regulate several metabolic processes, including glucose regulation. Adiponectin also reduces cholesterol and protects your heart. The increase in adiponectin levels in the adult body is related to the decreasing percentage of body fat. Meanwhile, poor adiponectin levels due to staying up late during pregnancy are associated with increased body fat and a tendency to be less active.