Maternal Sleep and the Risk of Childhood Infections: Findings from the Rhea Birth Cohort in Greece

Background Sleep is essential for immune function, but little is known about how maternal sleep during pregnancy may influence infection risk later in life. We aim to examine the effects of maternal sleep characteristics during late pregnancy on the risk of infection across early childhood (from birth to 6 years of age). Methods This study used data of 545 mother-child pairs from the Rhea mother-child cohort in Greece. Maternal sleep characteristics during the third trimester including excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep disturbances, short sleep duration, and snoring, were assessed through validated questionnaires. A maternal sleep score was created encompassing all the sleep characteristics mentioned above, ranging from 0 (indicating optimal sleep) to 4 (indicating poor sleep). IgG levels to five polyomaviruses (BKPyV, JCPyV, KIPyV, WUPyV, MCVPyV), two herpesviruses (EBV, CMV), Helicobacter pylori , Adenovirus-36, and Toxoplasma gondii were measured at ages 4 and 6. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate associations between sleep characteristics and risk infection during early childhood. Results Maternal sleep disturbances were associated with increased risk of childhood infection to BKPyV (HR:1.36; 95%CI: 1.05–1.77), to KIPyV (HR:1.43; 95% CI: 1.08–1.89), to WUPyV (HR:1.71; 95% CI: 1.28–2.29), to MCVPyV (HR:1.51; 95% CI: 1.15-2.00), to H. pylori (HR: 2.17; 95% CI: 1.14–4.15) and Adv-36 (HR:1.57; 95% CI: 1.08–2.27). Moreover, a maternal sleep score of 3, indicating three poor sleep indicators, was associated with nearly double the risk of infection with WUPyV (HR: 1.92; 95% CI: 1.08–3.42). Conclusion Our findings suggest that poor maternal sleep during late pregnancy, specifically sleep disturbances, may increase the risk of infection through childhood. This is the first study to link prenatal sleep to childhood infection susceptibility, providing novel evidence of the potential long-term immunological impact of prenatal sleep quality.