It appears that there is a relationship between pregnancy and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA is characterized by periods during sleep when breathing is completely stopped for 10 seconds or longer. Many of these events are over a minute long, and occur more than five times per hour, all night long. The health effects of this condition are enormous! You can find them on my website – www.NwSleepDoc.com. But this article is about some of the things that happen to a woman who is pregnant.

This is so serious that many researchers have called for a new diagnosis category to be established. The name proposed is “Gestational Sleep Apnea.” They feel that this will help these researchers to look more closely at what happens to the pregnant mom, and also what happens to the baby.

Studies are being conducted to determine just what the data being collected means. It appears that if the pregnant woman has severe sleep apnea, there is a higher incidence of low birth weight in the newborn, development of gestational diabetes, early preterm births, and hypertension in the mom. This is serious if left untreated. Sleep apnea is treatable, but many of the people who have it are not diagnosed; this number has been estimated to be 90 percent! This is a tragedy.

It is still being studied, and there is evidence pointing to the fact that OSA may be a risk factor for these conditions independent of other conditions, including obesity.

If a pregnant woman has been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, she will be up to seven times more prone to have OSA. This is a condition which causes blood glucose levels to be abnormally high. About six percent of pregnant women in the U.S. have gestational diabetes, and each have a very high chance of having OSA, which increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, etc.

The effect of this gestational sleep apnea on the unborn baby Is relatively unknown, but needs to be evaluated. It has been associated with very large birth weight due to the excess blood glucose levels. It has also been associated with preterm birth, respiratory distress syndrome, low blood sugar, and Type 2 diabetes later in life.

Any pregnant woman with gestational diabetes should have a sleep test, and have the OSA treated if they test positive. In fact, any pregnant woman who has any symptoms of OSA should be tested and treated if positive. There has not been enough research to find all the things in babies born whose moms have gestational diabetes develop. But the lack of oxygen in the mom has to have an effect on the unborn baby.

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Dr. Donald Johnson founded Northwest Treatment Center for Snoring & Sleep Apnea in Coeur d’Alene to help patients stop their snoring and live free with no limits! His office is at 114 W. Neider Ave., near Costco. The website for more information is www.NWSleepDoc.com and the office phone is (208) 667-4551. Schedule a free consultation appointment today!