Bronwyn Sweeney

Citation

Thesis Title
Perinatal sleep and postnatal mood in New Zealand women: An investigation of the relationship and trial of a sleep education intervention.

Read article at Massey Research Online:

Ms Sweeney investigated changes in sleep and mood during pregnancy, and after birth, in a group of 316 Maori and 635 non-Maori women. Sleep quantity was lowest and sleep quality and mood were poorest in late pregnancy and by three months postpartum had not returned to usual levels. Minor postnatal depression symptoms were reported by16% of women and 8% reported major postnatal depression symptoms. Both sleep quality and quantity were related to postnatal depression, especially when the magnitude of sleep changes was large, or when sleep continued to decline after birth. A sleep-education intervention was trialled in a separate group of 40 mothers. Intervention group mothers experienced a greater increase in postnatal sleep and reported more confidence to manage their infants sleep compared to the control group. These findings indicate the importance of sleep for maternal health and have implications for the practice of health professionals and maternal health policy.

Supervisors
Professor Leigh Signal
Dr Duncan Babbage