on average, couples suffered 50% more sleep disturbances if they shared a bed.
the modern tradition of the marital bed only began with the industrial revolution, when people moving to overcrowded towns and cities found themselves short of living space.
Before the Victorian era it was not uncommon for married couples to sleep apart. In ancient Rome, the marital bed was a place for sexual congress but not for sleeping.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8245578.stm