Sleep disorder clinic for pregnant women expands services

With World Sleep Day marked on Thursday, the city's first clinic offering healthcare for pregnant women with sleeping disorders announced it would expand its service to pre-, during-pregnancy and after-birth women as well as babies with sleep problems.

Sleep, sports and nutrition are the three important issues for proper development and health, and sleep is fundamental for both physical and psychological health.

The Shanghai International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital opened its prenatal sleep disorder clinic last March. Until now, it has offered guidance and medical help to over 1,000 pregnant women.

The first group of patients have now delivered their babies. In response to their requests and a larger clinical demand, the hospital decided to team up with the Shanghai Mental Health Center to offer a perinatal and after-birth comprehensive and continuous sleep renovation and medical system, featuring perinatal medicine, child care, and psychological medicine.

Ti Gong

A 34-year-old woman with a long history of depression and anxiety attended the clinic after becoming pregnant with twins in May of last year. She had suffered from insomnia and poor sleep quality after stopping taking sleep medication due to her pregnancy.

"Pregnant women are likely to develop mental stress due to the change of hormones, worry due to pregnancy, delivery, and breast feeding, and concern for their baby's health," said Dr Cai Yanqing from the hospital's sleep disorder clinic.

"We offer targeted instruction and guidance. In addition, pregnant women with depression also have a higher risk of after-birth depression. We take the pregnancy as the best time to give intervention and therapy to help them renovate their sleep and reduce the risk of postpartum depression. This patient's condition was well under control after receiving treatment at our clinic and she has delivered her babies smoothly."

Apart from pregnant women's own concerns, newborn babies' sleep patterns also impose an impact on new mothers. About 30 percent of infants and young children worldwide have sleep disorders, and their sleep problems can not only influence their carers' sleep but also impose negative effects on their own growth, immunity, nervous, mood, and cognitive development.

"Previous research has found that sleep disorders of pregnant woman and new mothers have a relationship with their own health and their children's growth. Our hospital's study also confirms that sleep disorders, depression, and anxiety during pregnancy can have effects on the result of the pregnancy. Monitoring and intervention on sleep should be done during the whole pregnancy and after birth. Sleep guidance for newborns, infants, and children is also essential," said Dr Liu Zhiwei, a hospital official.

The clinic is open each working day and expatriate patients with such problems are also welcome, as the hospital has a connection with all major commercial medical insurance companies and its medical staff have bilingual abilities, the hospital said.