# Wearable Device and Digital Health Platform to Optimize Sleep During Pregnancy

> **NIH NIH R43** · SMART HUMAN DYNAMICS, INC. · 2023 · $251,622

## Abstract

Project Summary
Maternal sleep has significant influence on maternal health and emerging impact on fetal/newborn health.
Suboptimal sleep and clinical sleep disorders are linked to maternal hypertension, gestational diabetes, fetal
growth problems, preterm birth, cesarean section, stillbirth, and postpartum depression. The ability to track
maternal sleep and integrate metrics with other markers of wellbeing, such as blood pressure, weight, and mood
scores across gestation could provide critical early risk assessments for both pregnant individuals and their
healthcare providers. Currently, no consumer wearable device has been validated for sleep in pregnancy and
no device has been tested for integration with other important health measures in the pregnant population. Smart
Human Dynamics has developed a prototype device and companion app to identify and track maternal body
position during sleep.
In this proposal, the prototype device will be augmented to also include a microphone to track snoring, along
with other device-and-app features to monitor breathing, blood pressure, weight gain, and mood (in addition to
existing sleep duration and sleep position). The device will be validated against gold-standard polysomnography
at the University of Michigan and will be tested in a usability study with pregnant individuals. Participant feedback
will be obtained to further enhance the device and user experience. The yield will be a validated miniature sleep
tracker and companion app for use in pregnancy. This will represent the first step towards a real-time sleep
diagnostic tool, a sleep optimizer, and a mobile app, designed specifically for pregnant individuals, to be deployed
in Phase II in a systematic study to evaluate the influence of various sleep behaviors on pregnancy outcomes.
The overall goal is that this device will not only enable pregnant individuals to self-identify pregnancy health risks,
but also provide the treating clinicians access to a wealth of health behaviors and pregnancy risk assessments
(for preeclampsia, sleep-disordered breathing, depression, and other conditions) to inform better decision-
making.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10602171
- **Project number:** 1R43HD111096-01
- **Recipient organization:** SMART HUMAN DYNAMICS, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Steve R Dugan
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $251,622
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-07-15 → 2024-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10602171

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10602171, Wearable Device and Digital Health Platform to Optimize Sleep During Pregnancy (1R43HD111096-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10602171. Licensed CC0.

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