{"id":12670,"date":"2025-05-27T09:01:03","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T14:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleepmeeting.org\/?p=12670"},"modified":"2025-06-05T15:24:42","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T20:24:42","slug":"study-quantifies-sleep-loss-disruption-experienced-new-mothers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleepmeeting.org\/study-quantifies-sleep-loss-disruption-experienced-new-mothers\/","title":{"rendered":"Study quantifies the sleep loss and disruption experienced by new mothers"},"content":{"rendered":"

DARIEN, IL \u2013 A new study to be presented at the SLEEP 2025 annual meeting quantifies the amount of sleep loss experienced by first-time mothers in the weeks after giving birth and is the first to identify the unique type of sleep disruption that persists throughout the first months of motherhood.<\/p>\n

Results show that the average daily sleep duration of new mothers was 4.4 hours during the first week after giving birth compared with a pre-pregnancy sleep duration of 7.8 hours. Their longest stretch of uninterrupted sleep also fell from 5.6 hours at pre-pregnancy to 2.2 hours in the first week after delivery. Nearly one-third of participants (31.7%) went more than 24 hours without sleep in the first week with a newborn.<\/p>\n

The daily sleep duration of new moms increased to 6.7 hours across postpartum weeks 2 through 7 and 7.3 hours across weeks 8 through 13. However, their longest stretch of uninterrupted sleep remained significantly lower than pre-pregnancy levels at 3.2 hours in weeks 2 through 7 and 4.1 hours in weeks 8 through 13. This novel finding reveals that sleep discontinuity remains a problem for new mothers even as their total nightly sleep duration gradually returns to pre-pregnancy levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe significant loss of uninterrupted sleep in the postpartum period was the most dramatic finding,\u201d said lead author Teresa Lillis, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology and is an adjunct professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. \u201cWhile mothers generally returned to their pre-pregnancy total nightly sleep duration after the first postpartum week, the structure of their sleep remained profoundly altered. These results fundamentally transform our understanding of postpartum sleep; it\u2019s not the lack of sleep, but rather, the lack of uninterrupted sleep that is the largest challenge for new mothers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study involved 41 first-time mothers between the ages of 26 and 43 years. They provided their wearable sleep data from their personal Fitbit devices for a full year before childbirth through the end of the first year after giving birth.<\/p>\n

Lillis noted that these findings explain why new mothers continue to feel exhausted even when they get the recommended 7 or more hours of sleep per night<\/a>. The study results also identify sleep discontinuity as a potential risk factor and intervention target for postpartum depression and other postpartum-related health issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur results validate the lived experience of new mothers\u2019 exhaustion and provide a new target for sleep-related interventions,\u201d she said. \u201cRather than simply encouraging mothers to \u2018nap when the baby naps\u2019, our findings show that mothers would most benefit from strategies that protect opportunities for uninterrupted sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

This study was supported by trackthatsleep LLC<\/a>, for which Lillis serves as CEO. The study was conducted at Washington State University\u2019s Sleep and Performance Research Center with co-investigators Devon Hansen and Hans Van Dongen.<\/p>\n

The research abstract was published recently in an online supplement<\/a> of the journal Sleep and will be presented Monday, June 9, during SLEEP 2025 in Seattle. SLEEP is the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society.<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

Abstract Title<\/strong>: Profound Postpartum Sleep Discontinuity in First-Time Mothers<\/a><\/p>\n

Abstract ID<\/strong>: 0915
\nPoster Presentation Date<\/strong>: Monday, June 9, 11-11:45 a.m. PDT, Board #294
\nPresenter<\/strong>: Teresa Lillis, PhD, adjunct professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Rush University Medical Center<\/p>\n

For a copy of the abstract or to arrange an interview with the study author or a sleep expert, please send an email to aasm@lcwa.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC<\/strong><\/p>\n

The APSS is a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. The APSS organizes the SLEEP annual meeting each June.<\/p>\n

About the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
\n<\/strong>Established in 1975, the AASM is a medical association that advances sleep care and enhances sleep health to improve lives. The AASM membership includes more than 9,500 physicians, scientists, and other health care professionals who help people who have sleep disorders. The AASM also accredits 2,300 sleep centers that are providing the highest quality of sleep care across the country (aasm.org<\/a>).<\/p>\n

About the Sleep Research Society\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The SRS is a professional membership society that advances sleep and circadian science. The SRS serves its members and the field of sleep and circadian research through training and education, and by providing forums for the collaboration and exchange of ideas. The SRS facilitates its goals through scientific meetings and trainee specific programming, and by advocating for federal sleep and circadian research funding. The SRS also publishes the peer-reviewed, scientific journals SLEEP and SLEEP Advances (sleepresearchsociety.org<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":12775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nStudy quantifies the sleep loss and disruption experienced by new mothers – SLEEP Meeting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new study to be presented at the SLEEP 2025 annual meeting quantifies the sleep loss and disruption experienced by new mothers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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