Abstract

Background: The hormonal fluctuations suffered by women along different phases of their adult fertile lifetime have a significant impact in their sleep physiology. Likewise, sleep changes play an important role in the regulation of those processes, establishing a two-way relationship between sleep and female hormone cycles Objective: Examine the relationship between sleep, menstrual cycle, female fertility, pregnancy, postpartum and breastfeeding. Methods: A narrative review of the literature is presented. Results: We examined 67 articles assessing the relationship between hormonal changes suffered by women in chile-bearing age and sleep. Conclusion: The relationship between sleep, menstrual cycle, fertility, pregnancy, postpartum and breastfeeding was clearly established, exposing several connections between processes, structures and mediators implied in female hormone regulation and sleep.