“Heightened exposure to racial/ethnic discrimination is associated with poorer sleep health
among non-pregnant adults. This relationship has received limited research attention among pregnant women, despite the importance of prenatal sleep quality for optimal maternal and child health outcomes.”

“Black American adults experience poorer sleep health than their White counterparts. Unexpected differences in sleep health that systematically and adversely affect historically marginalized individuals are known as sleep health disparities. Sleep health disparities are the likely product of longstanding exposure to psychosocial stressors, such as racial/ethnic discrimination. Indeed, Black American adults are disproportionately exposed to racial/
ethnic discrimination, and chronic racial/ethnic discrimination is concurrently, and in some cases, prospectively associated with poor sleep health among adults. Heightened exposure to racial/ethnic discrimination may confer risk for poor sleep health via several pathways. Potential mechanisms of transmission include greater likelihood of exposure to environmental living conditions that negatively affect sleep health (e.g., pollution, noise, ambient lighting) among racial/ethnic minorities as a consequence of institutional racism.”

Cohen, M. F., et al . (2022). Discrimination is associated with poor sleep quality in pregnant Black American women. Sleep Medicine, 100, 39–48.