Benefits of Physical Exercise on the Pregnant Women Sleep

Abstract

Introduction: Sleep disorders are highly prevalent in pregnant women and have been correlated with higher risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Due to the side effects of drug treatment for these disorders, it has been suggested that physical exercise could improve sleep in pregnant women and, therefore, pregnancy outcomes.
Objective: To carry out a bibliographic review to analyze the effects of physical exercise on the quality and duration of sleep in pregnant women and on insomnia in pregnant women.
Methods: A search of the bibliography on the subject was carried out in the PubMed, SciELO, LILACS and RIMA databases, on the impact of physical exercise on sleep in pregnant women, using the keywords "pregnancy", " physical exercise", "physical
activity" and "sleep", and a narrative summary of the findings is presented. Two hundred and four studies were eliminated since they did not related to the topic. Finally, 71 articles were selected.
Conclusions: Moderate physical exercise improves the quality of sleep in pregnant women and it can be a useful complementary treatment to combat sleep disorders during pregnancy, without the side effects of drug treatment.