Clare Ladyman

Citation

Thesis Title
I could cope so much better if I could just get a good night’s sleep”: Maternal sleep and mental health from early pregnancy to three years post birth

Poor sleep is closely related to perinatal depression with severe and prolonged outcomes for mother and child. Pregnancy is a key teachable life stage, with mothers keen to improve their health for the benefit of their baby, yet research investigating sleep education interventions for preventing depression is scarce. Ms Ladyman’s research incorporated a review of sleep health in pregnancy, analysis of perinatal depression trajectories, and the development and implementation of a sleep education intervention in pregnancy. Her findings highlighted the strong relationship between sleep and maternal mental health and the pregnancy sleep education intervention shows great promise for minimising depressive symptoms and improving sleep, without the need for medication. The sleep education material is now a published book available to expectant mothers and clinicians.

Supervisors
Professor Leigh Signal
Dr Mark Huthwaite
Professor Philippa Gander
Dr Bronwyn Sweeney