The Relationship between Sleep Quality, Depression, and Anxiety in Pregnant Women: A Cohort Study

Sleep disturbances are common in women, especially during pregnancy. This can re-sult in emotional and psychological consequences in pregnant women. The aim of this study was to assess the preva-lence and identify the relationship between sleep quality, anxiety, and depression during pregnancy.
This cohort study included 283 pregnant women. Participants completed Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index at first, second, and third gestational tri-mesters. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and Cramer’s V correlation technique.
The findings indicated that nearly 30% of participants suffered from depression. Mild depression reported from the first, second, and third trimesters was 18%, 11%, and 4.9%, respectively, while severe depression frequency was found to be 4.9% in the third trimester. Moreover, the highest proportion of mild anxiety was 28.3% in the first trimester, and moderate and severe anxiety had a prevalence of 4.9 and 14.1% in the third trimester, respectively. In the third trimester, sleep quality was lower and the prevalence of sleep problems was 75.26%. The findings also showed that there is a significant association between sleep problems and depression and anxiety (P Psychological problems such as anxiety and depression were prevalent among the studied population of pregnant women. Thus, psychological counseling before pregnancy or early pregnancy in this population may pro-vide safer pregnancy, convenient delivery, and healthier newborns.