Obstructive Sleep Apnea Linked to Maternal Deaths

A large scale study recently published in the journal Sleep finds a significant correlation between obstructive sleep apnea and maternal deaths for female hospital patients:

Pregnant women with obstructive sleep apnea are more than five times as likely to die in the hospital than those without the sleep disorder, a comprehensive national study by the University of South Florida researchers found. Among delivery-related hospital discharges, sleep apnea was also associated with an increase in severe medical conditions that are top causes of maternal death, including preeclampsia, eclampsia, an enlarged heart and pulmonary blood clots, reported the study published online this month in the journal Sleep.

The study linking maternal deaths with sleep apnea was conducted by Dr. Judette Louis, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of South Florida's Health Morsani College of Medicine. Dr. Louis specializes in maternal-fetal medicine.