Restless Legs Syndrome during pregnancy.

p>Restless Legs Syndrome during pregnancy

Interestingly in women who did not have RLS before they were pregnant the condition disappears afterwards – but 26% of pregnant women suffer from RLS symptoms.

In a study conducted on pregnant and postpartum women a structured questionnaire was distributed by physicians who were sleep therapy experts.  Questions included  details of mother and baby, and RLS symptoms at each stage of pregnancy and after the baby was born. RLS sufferers were interviewed on the telephone at stages of one, three and six months after birth.

77% of the 606 women reported reduced sleep quality in pregnancy. Out of these 161 reported RLS and 101 of these (17%) had never had it before.  24% experienced RLS symptoms at least once a week and 15% at least three times a week. Symptoms increased in severity as the pregnancy progressed especially in the later months and this was especially so in the women who had never had RLS previously. The symptoms reduced after delivery and by six months completely disappeared in women who had not suffered RLS before their pregnancy.

Reference   M Manconi et al. Restless legs syndrome and pregnancy. Neurology 2004 63: 1065-1069.

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