Sleep is crucial, especially for pregnant women.

Inadequate sleep during pregnancy can have many negative effects, including neurodevelopmental delays for the child, according to a new study.

The research, which was published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, examined the effects of short sleep duration (SSD) — defined as sleeping fewer than seven hours per night — on pregnant women.

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The China-based researchers analyzed sleep data from 7,059 mother-child pairs from three Chinese hospitals. The children were screened for developmental delays from 6 months to 3 years old.

Insufficient sleep during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of delays in nervous system development, the researchers found.

“Our findings highlight the importance of addressing sleep quality during pregnancy to potentially mitigate the risk of long-term cognitive and behavioral issues in children,” lead study author Peng Zhu, M.D., of Anhui Medical University and the MOE Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle in Hefei, China, told Fox News Digital. 

“Additionally, we discovered that cord blood C-peptide levels partially mediate this association, indicating that maternal sleep might impact fetal glucose metabolism and, consequently, the child’s neurodevelopment.”

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The neurodevelopmental delays can lead to slower development of social, emotional, behavioral, motor, cognitive or speech skills, the new study revealed.

Boys, compared to girls, have a higher risk of these issues when their mothers experience SSD, the researchers found.

Poor sleep during pregnancy has also been associated with other complications, including preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. (iStock)

“This suggests that male fetuses might be more sensitive to the metabolic environment influenced by maternal sleep patterns,” Zhu said.

“This insight could lead to tailored interventions and a deeper understanding of how prenatal factors affect neurodevelopmental outcomes in a sex-specific manner.”

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Pregnant women may have trouble sleeping due to hormonal changes, discomfort, frequent urination and other factors, the Endocrine Society noted in a press release.

Prenatal health is important for the health of both the expectant mother and the unborn child. (iStock)

Dr. Jillian LoPiano, a Miami-based OB-GYN and chief health officer at the reproductive telehealth platform Wisp, acknowledged that the study measured a “possible biological marker” in neurological development.

“Much more research is needed to assess this relationship, but adequate sleep is known to be associated with proper growth and socioemotional development,” she told Fox News Digital.

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Poor sleep during pregnancy is also associated with other complications, including preeclampsia and gestational diabetes, LoPiano detailed.

“Adequate sleep is known to be associated with proper growth and socioemotional development.”

The expert recommended that pregnant women who are experiencing trouble sleeping consult with a doctor.

She also shared a few simple methods that can help improve sleep, including sleeping in a cool, dark room, minimizing screen time and distractions before bed, having adequate wind-down time, meditating and using support pillows.

Pregnant women may have trouble sleeping due to hormonal changes, discomfort, frequent urination and other factors, experts say. (iStock)

The study researchers reiterated the importance of sleep hygiene.

“Pregnant women should be advised on strategies to improve sleep hygiene, such as maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, creating a relaxing bedtime environment, and avoiding caffeine and electronic devices before bed,” Zhu told Fox News Digital.

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The researchers also recommend that health care providers screen pregnant women for sleep quality and provide guidance on achieving sufficient sleep. 

“Furthermore, monitoring and managing gestational diabetes, which is linked to sleep patterns, should be emphasized,” Zhu added.

Experts emphasized the importance of proper sleep hygiene during pregnancy. (iStock)

The study did have some potential limitations, the researchers acknowledged.

“As an observational study, we can only establish associations rather than causality,” Zhu told Fox News Digital.

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“Additionally, sleep duration was self-reported, which may introduce some level of bias.” 

Future studies with objective sleep measurements and larger sample sizes could help to validate the findings, the researcher added.

Two best friends in Florida got to experience one of life’s most meaningful experiences together — becoming mothers — and it was caught on camera.

It started in May 2024, when Carolynn Shada announced her pregnancy to her best friend, Kali Gaynor — only to get a surprise of her own when her friend said she was also expecting.

“Our due dates were eight days apart, so we always joked around with the idea that we all could be at the hospital at the same time,” she wrote on Instagram.

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“NEVER did we ever think our BOYS would be born on the same day.”

Yet that’s exactly what happened — in August, the best friends went into labor and delivered their baby boys on the same day, in the same hospital.

“Her precious baby boy was born a bit after 12AM on Tuesday,” Shada wrote of her friend. 

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“The hospital we were at was at a max capacity, so a few hours after she birthed her baby they moved her to triage. As morning rolls around, I head to the hospital and was placed in the EXACT room she delivered her baby in. My son was born later that afternoon with the same midwife group.”

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“You can’t make this stuff up!”

Fox News Digital reached out to Shada and Gaynor for comment.

It’s well known that Ben Franklin was a morning person. In his “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” he famously said, “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” 

But what did Ben Franklin do when he got up early? What was his morning ritual? 

That is less well known. In his autobiography, Ben Franklin wrote that the first thing he did when he woke up each day was to ask himself the following question: “What good shall I do this day?” (See the video at the top of this article.) 

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I love Ben Franklin’s ritual. 

For most of my adult life, my default morning thoughts included questions such as, “What annoying tasks do I have to do this day?” and “What terrible things have happened in the world that I’ll read about when I open my laptop?” 

Nowadays, I try instead to do what Ben Franklin advises: I ask myself, “What good can I do today?” 

Written on a piece of paper, it now hangs over my desk as a reminder. 

This new habit is the result of the year I spent recently trying to live like the Founding Fathers. I wrote about the wisdom I learned in my new book, “The Year of Living Constitutionally.”

“The Founders’ idea of virtue meant public-mindedness. A virtuous person puts the interests of others before their own interests.”

As Franklin’s morning ritual implies, the Founders were obsessed with the idea of virtue. 

Nowadays, the word “virtue” has a bit of a cringey and fusty ring to it.

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I hear the word most often used in the phrase “virtue signaling,” which is not a compliment. 

“Virtue signaling” refers to someone who is ostentatiously trying to show off how righteous they are by, for instance, loudly asking a waiter about the living conditions of the bees that produced the honey for their oatmeal.

“The Founders’ idea of virtue meant public-mindedness,” said Jacobs. “A virtuous person puts the interests of others before their own interests. A virtuous person focuses on those two key words in the Constitution’s preamble: ‘General Welfare.’” (A.J. Jacobs; iStock)

In the Founders’ era, the word virtue had no such mixed connotations. 

Virtue was a cherished ideal. In his book “First Principles,” Thomas E. Ricks writes that the Founders used the word virtue about 6,000 times in the collected writings from the Revolutionary era. 

That’s more often than the word “freedom.” 

“I almost wish the Constitution had a Bill of Responsibilities.”

The Founders’ idea of virtue meant public-mindedness. A virtuous person puts the interests of others before their own interests. A virtuous person focuses on those two key words in the Constitution’s preamble: “General Welfare.”

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I think we’re due for a resurgence of virtue. I know I could use more of it. 

As a rule, I’m too focused on my individual rights. Rights are wonderful, and I’m grateful that I live in a country that puts an emphasis on individual rights. But rights come with responsibilities. 

I almost wish the Constitution had a Bill of Responsibilities. 

A.J. Jacobs, pictured at left with members of his family, “lived” the Constitution for a year — which included sharpening his own quill pen, at right, and growing closer to the meaning and intent of the Founding Fathers.  (A.J. Jacobs)

The idea of public responsibility, I believe, was more ingrained in the 18th century and didn’t need to be spelled out. You were expected to sacrifice for your community.

If there was a fire, you were expected to be part of the bucket brigade, helping to save your neighbor’s house. If you were a man, you were expected to be a part of your local militia. 

 “If I’m depressed, I find the best thing to do is to help others. It gets me out of my head.”

When my wife and kids and I wrote a Constitution for our family — an exercise I fully recommend — we included a Bill of Rights, but also a Bill of Responsibilities. 

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It’s not about being saintly. 

Service actually wasn’t opposed to happiness. It was integral to it. 

Jacobs is shown with an “Election Cake” offering as part of his “Year of Living Constitutionally,” the title of his most recent book. He writes that service to others “wasn’t opposed to happiness. It was integral to it.” (A.J. Jacobs)

As Jeffrey Rosen, president of the National Constitution Center, has said, “Happiness wasn’t about feeling good. It was about doing good.” 

I find this observation to be true in my own life. If I’m depressed, I find the best thing to do is to help others. It gets me out of my head.

Jacobs, pictured here with his wife, spent a year living “constitutionally” — and wrote about it in his new book.  (A.J. Jacobs)

That piece of paper over my desk serves as a moral North Star and helps tamp down my Larry David side. 

When I start to get angry about something silly — such as my Instagram post didn’t get enough likes — I can look at the phrase and get a reality check. 

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It reminds me of the big picture.

“The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution’s Original Meaning” by A.J. Jacobs (2024) is published by Crown.