Early Human Development 43 (1995) 197-204 Maternal poljrdrug use including cocaine and postnatal infant sleep architecture: preliminary observations and implications for respiratory control and behavior Jeannine L. Gingras *qd Jonathan B. Feibela, Linda B. Dalleya, Andre Mueienaerb, Cynthia G. Knight‘ ‘Department of Pediatrics, Box 3179, Duke University Medical Center. Durham. NC 27710. USA bDepartmeni of Pediatrics, The Children’s Hospitai, Roanoke. Virginia. USA ‘Infmcon Diagnostic Service, Raleigh. North Carolina, USA dCarolinas Medical Center. IWO Blythe Blvd., Charlotte. NC 28203. USA Received 23 January 1995; revision received 5 July 1995; accepted 12 July 1995 Abstract Twelve-hourovernight pneumocardiograms wereassessed for sleep architecture and sleep efficiencyin two groups of healthy term newborn infants: a group exposed prenatally to co- caine alone or in combination with other drugs and a non-exposed group. Sleep was differen- tiatedfrom wakefulms by an increase in heartrate, an increase in or variation in the duration and amplitude of the respiration and increased artifacts on the heart rate channel. Quiet and activesleep weredetermined by the regularity or irregularity of heart rate and respiration. In a sub-set of infants, the number of arousals during activesleep was calculated. Overall signifi- cance wasconfinned by ANOVA followed by pairedcomparisons usingthe Student’s-test. When compared to non-exposed infantswithin the first week of life, infants exposed prenatal- ly to cocaine alone or in combinationwith other drugs demonstrated morewakefulness and less sleep (P c 0.05),morefrequent arousals during activesleep (P < O.Ol), and the tendency of a higherproportion of active sleep compared to quiet sleep. These findings may haveim- plications to both behavioral andrespiratory control findings associated with prenatal cocaine exposure. Keywords: Sleep; Cocaine; Newborn; Infant; Drug exposure; Polydrug use * Corresponding author’s present address, Carolinias Medical Center, 1000 Blythe Blvd., Charlotte. NC 28203, USA. 0378-3782/95/.$09.50 0 1995 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved SSDI 0378-3782(95)01671-U