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A new study suggests that moms who suffer from depression when their
children are born are at risk of having babies with severe sleep
issues. These kids also are more likely to suffer with depression
during early childhood.
Infants born to depressed mothers took
longer to fall asleep at night during the first six months. They also
had frequent but much shorter periods of sleep during the day.
Researchers
believe that if these infant sleep problems are not addressed they can
lead to bigger problems as the child gets older. These issues can
affect the child's mental and physical health as well as the mother's.
If her baby's sleep problems continue it could harm the mother's health
due to her loss of sleep.
If you believe that you are suffering
from depression seek help right away. Counseling and medication can
help keep your depression under control. There are also safe
medications that pregnant women can take to treat depression. Talk to
your doctor about your treatment options.
As mothers it is our
responsibility to take control of our own health first. Only after we
are able to take better care of ourselves will we be able to take care
of our children.
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NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) – Infants born to mothers with depression are at
increased risk for sleep disturbances from 2 to 24 weeks of age,
according to a report in the May issue of Sleep. Whether this places
the infants at greater risk for childhood depression remains to be
determined.The findings are based on a study of 18 healthy,
full-term infants who had their sleep habits evaluated with actigraphy
for 7 consecutive days on a monthly basis. In addition, the subjects’
mothers kept daily sleep/wake diaries. The Doctor Channel.com
Maternal Depression Influences Infant Sleep
By Rick Nauert, Ph.D. Senior News Editor
A
recent study suggests babies born to mothers with depression are more
likely to suffer from significant sleep disturbances at 2 weeks
postpartum that continue until 6 months of age.Findings of the
study are of particular importance, as sleep disturbances in infancy
may result in increased risk for developing early-onset depression in
childhood. Psych Central.com
Maternal depression is associated with significant sleep disturbance in infants
Westchester,
Ill. -- A study in the May 1 issue of the journal SLEEP suggests that
babies born to mothers with depression are more likely to suffer from
significant sleep disturbances at 2 weeks postpartum that continue
until 6 months of age. Findings of the study are of particular
importance, as sleep disturbances in infancy may result in increased
risk for developing early-onset depression in childhood.
Results
indicate that infants born to mothers with depression had significant
sleep disturbances compared to low-risk infants; the high-risk group
had an hour longer nocturnal sleep latency, shorter sleep episodes and
lower sleep efficiency than infants who were born to mothers without
depression. Although average sleep time in a 24 hours did not differ by
risk group at eight two or four weeks, nocturnal total sleep time was
97 minutes longer in the low-risk group at both recording periods.
High-risk infants also had significantly more daytime sleep episodes of
a shorter average duration. Science Blog
