Funding outcome

Women of reproductive age make up a significant proportion of the workforce, and approximately 90% of pregnant women remain employed during pregnancy. Our recent study showed that pregnant women who do shift work have a higher potential for poor pregnancy outcomes, including having a preterm baby and developing high blood pressure during pregnancy. However, we do not have evidence that the sleep/wake cycles due to shift work are to blame for these pregnancy complications. Circadian disruption is what occurs when humans or animals are kept awake when they would normally be asleep and their sleep and wake times do not follow a regular 24 hour cycle, such as during shift work. When research animals like rats are exposed to circadian disruption during pregnancy, they have worse pregnancy outcomes. This is due to changes in their hormone levels which are related to sleep (like melatonin) and increases in stress. There is a lack of evidence that circadian disruption in humans during pregnancy directly causes worse pregnancy outcomes. As a result, the exact mechanism by which these factors contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes in shift workers remains unknown. One group of women who are regularly exposed to shift work are medical professionals. Using this population, we can test whether pregnant women working regular day shifts have different hormones levels or stress compared to those working night shifts. The goal of this research is to study the effect of working a night shift on the mental health (sleep time, stress level, anxiety and depression) and physical health (hormone production, metabolism, and blood pressure) in a group of hospital nurses and medical staffs. Saliva, urine and blood samples as well as a set of mental health-related questionnaires will be collected at 34-36 weeks of gestation in both daytime workers and shift workers. Then, we will see if changes in these factors due to shiftwork result in worse outcomes for mom and baby. Understanding the mechanisms by which shift work influences the normal pregnancy process can aid in the development of intervention strategies that reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes.