Sleep deprivation and the postnatal blues

https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(92)90067-CGet rights and content

Abstract

This prospective study of 63 women was designed to investigate the relationship between sleep disruption prior to the birth, during labour and in the early postpartum period and the subsequent development of the postnatal blues. The results from this preliminary study suggest that two factors: (a) a night-time labour; and (b) a history of sleep disruption in the latter stages of pregnancy, may have aetiological importance in the development of postnatal blues. There was little evidence from this study to suggest that sleep disruption on the nights following the birth, the third sleep factor investigated, had any impact on the expression of the blues.

References (25)

  • B Pitt

    Maternity blues

    Br J Psychiat

    (1973)
  • P Nott et al.

    Hormonal changes and mood in the puerperium

    Br J Psychiat

    (1976)
  • Cited by (59)

    • Sleep Deficiency in Pregnancy

      2023, Sleep Medicine Clinics
    • Mood and behavior

      2023, Encyclopedia of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms: Volume 1-6, Second Edition
    • Sleep Deficiency in Pregnancy

      2022, Clinics in Chest Medicine
      Citation Excerpt :

      Field (2007) studied sleep quality, defined as the number of nightly sleep disturbances, and found was linked to an increased risk of depression symptoms in the second and third trimesters.32 In a prospective study, 63 women were followed through the latter stage of pregnancy (defined between 36 weeks gestation and term), and results indicated a history of sleep disruption during this time was associated with the onset of postnatal blues, a transient mood disturbance within the weeks after delivery.33 Skouteris and colleagues (2008)23 established sleep quality early in pregnancy would predict levels of depressive symptoms later in pregnancy, after following women starting at 15 to 23 weeks gestation for 3 times at 8-week intervals.

    • A mixed methods study of perinatal sleep and breastfeeding outcomes in women at risk for postpartum depression

      2021, Sleep Health
      Citation Excerpt :

      A logical next step is to examine modifiable personal, environmental, and social/structural factors that promote or deter breastfeeding, so that new mothers can breastfeed successfully if they choose to do so. The relationship between prenatal sleep and breastfeeding has not been explored extensively, despite evidence that sleep is disturbed not only postpartum but also throughout pregnancy,1,19 and that sleep disturbance during pregnancy can impact other postpartum outcomes.8,20-22 This paper used quantitative and qualitative approaches to examine to what extent sleep quality during pregnancy predicts initiation and continuation of breastfeeding, and to explore themes related to how sleep and other factors contribute to women's decision-making about breastfeeding.

    • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia and Women's Health: Sex as a Biological Variable

      2019, Sleep Medicine Clinics
      Citation Excerpt :

      Moreover, insufficient sleep and more time tending to the infant at night predicted poorer maternal-infant attachment. Several studies have documented the relationship between sleep disturbance and subsequent reports of depressive symptoms at a later time among perinatal women (later in pregnancy96–98 or in the early postpartum97,99–102). The association between poor sleep and subsequent depressive symptoms also holds when sleep disturbance is experienced during the early postpartum period, and postpartum depression develops at a later postpartum time.103–105

    View all citing articles on Scopus

    Department of Psychiatry, Southern General Hospital, 1345 Govan Road, Glasgow, G51 4TF, U.K.

    Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto.

    View full text