Pregnant moms who prefer being glued to the idiot box late nights better watch out. A recently-concluded study by the department of community medicine at Madras Medical College, that surveyed 1.5 million pregnant women from seven districts, found that the newborns of moms who were glued to television soaps post 10 pm cried irritably even after being fed.
On the other hand, kids whose mothers were in bed before 10 pm during pregnancy slept blissfully after being fed. “We wanted to know the impact of watching TV for a longer duration during pregnancy, especially in nights, and we assessed the crying pattern of newborns for a week after birth,” says former director of health, Dr S. Elango. Dr Elango was advisor to the team of postgraduate students that began the study in 2007. “The results prove that foetus are alert when mothers are awake late at night, watching daily serials, and the impact of the disturbed sleep is felt even after birth,” he says.
Even as there is no ideal sleep regime that a pregnant mom should follow, a minimum of eight-hours rest at night is a must, insists Dr Sharada Suresh, director, Institute of Child Health, Egmore.