Relative treatment rates for sleep disorders and sleep disturbances following abortion and childbirth: a prospective record-based study.

Sleep disorders are linked with mood disorders and other psychiatric illnesses. Many women attribute sleep difficulties to abortion, but this self-diagnosis has not been tested using record-based evidence. Examination of records for 56,824 women with no known history of sleep disorders or sleep disturbances revealed that women were more likely to be treated for sleep disorders or disturbances following an induced abortion compared to a birth. The difference was most pronounced in the first 180 days after pregnancy resolution and was not significant after the third year.