Association between breastfeeding and new mothers’ sleep: a unique Australian time use study

Smith, Julie; Forrester, Robert

doi:10.1186/s13006-020-00347-z

Cited by 19 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The percentage of mothers experiencing insufficient sleep postpartum was significantly higher than before pregnancy. Similar results were found in a study, which concluded that exclusive breastfeeding is associated with reduced maternal sleep duration (average 7.08 h daily) ( 2 ). Another study found that breastfeeding was associated with a slight decrease in maternal sleep satisfaction, with both parents experiencing long-term effects on sleep due to the arrival of new family members ( 40 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Public opinion and even some professionals believe that mothers lack sleep because they need to feed their babies and that using formula would help improve the situation ( 2 , 4 , 15 , 41 ). However, other studies hold different views ( 4 , 16 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mothers need to feed and care for their babies frequently during lactation, causing sleep interruptions and reducing overall sleep quality and quantity (1). From late pregnancy to a few years after delivery, women are vulnerable to high incidence rates and long periods of sleep disorders (1)(2)(3).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sleep duration of lactating mothers and its relationship with feeding pattern, milk macronutrients and related serum factors: A combined longitudinal cohort and cross-sectional study

et al. 2022

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ObjectiveInsufficient sleep is common in postpartum mothers. The main objectives of this study are to explore the sleep duration among Chinese lactating mothers and preliminarily investigate the relationship between sleep duration and feeding pattern. The secondary objectives are to investigate the relationships between sleep duration and milk macronutrients and between maternal-related indicators, including melatonin (MT), growth hormone (GH), ghrelin (GHRL), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), prolactin (PRL), and cholecystokinin (CCK).MethodsThe present study comprises a longitudinal and a cross-sectional cohort from December 2019 to December 2021. Postpartum lactating women living in Shanghai were recruited through online and offline recruitment. The subjects were included in the longitudinal cohort or cross-sectional study based on their lactation period at the time of recruitment. The longitudinal cohort included a total of 115 mothers. Human milk and feeding pattern were measured and collected at 2–4 months and 5–7 months postpartum. At four predetermined follow-up time points, data on sleep duration was collected (at the time of recruitment, 2–4 months postpartum, 5–7 months postpartum, and 12–17 months postpartum). The cross-sectional study included 35 lactating mothers (2–12 months postpartum) who reported their sleep duration and provided blood samples. Mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIRS) method was used to analyze the macronutrients of breast milk, while MT, GH, GHRL, GLP-1, PRL, and CCK in maternal blood were determined by ELISA.ResultsThe maternal sleep duration before pregnancy was 8.14 ± 1.18 h/d (n = 115), 7.27 ± 1.31 h/d (n = 113) for 2–4 months postpartum, 7.02 ± 1.05 h/d (n = 105) for 5–7 months postpartum, and 7.45 ± 1.05 h/d (n = 115) for 12–17 months postpartum. The incidence of insufficient sleep (<7 h/d) before pregnancy (12.17%) was significantly less than at any follow-up time after delivery (vs. 2–4 months postpartum, χ2 = 10.101, p = 0.001; vs. 5–7 months postpartum, χ2 = 15.281, p < 0.0001; vs. 12–17 months postpartum, χ2 = 6.426, p = 0.011). The percentage of insufficient maternal sleep was highest at 5–7 months postpartum (34.29%). No significant difference was found between the incidence of insufficient sleep at 5–7 months postpartum, 2–4 months postpartum (29.20%, χ2 = 0.650, p = 0.420), and 12–17 months postpartum (25.22%, χ2 = 2.168, p = 0.141). At 2–4 months postpartum, the frequency of formula feeding per day is related to reduced maternal sleep duration (Standardization coefficient β = −0.265, p = 0.005, Adjusted R2 = 0.061). At 2–4 months and 5–7 months postpartum, the relationship between macronutrients in breast milk and the mother's sleep duration was insignificant (all p > 0.05). Other than the positive correlation found between maternal GHRL and sleep duration (r = 0.3661, p = 0.0305), no significant relationship was observed between sleep duration and other indexes (all p > 0.05).ConclusionsPostpartum mothers generally sleep less, but there is no correlation between insufficient sleep and the macronutrient content of breast milk. Formula feeding may be related to the mother's sleep loss, while breastfeeding (especially direct breastfeeding) may be related to increased maternal sleep duration. The findings suggest that sleep duration is related to maternal serum GHRL. More high-quality studies are needed to clarify the mechanism of these findings and provide a solid theoretical basis and support references for breastfeeding.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sleep duration of lactating mothers and its relationship with feeding pattern, milk macronutrients and related serum factors: A combined longitudinal cohort and cross-sectional study

et al. 2022

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“…31 Breastfeeding dials infants down during the night, to make nightwaking manageable. Excessive night-waking is not caused by frequent flexible feeds, 42 but by disruptions to the biological sleep regulators 25,[29][30][31]33,34,43 Breastfed infants cannot be overfed It's not necessary to wait for cues to offer a feed, knowing that the infant will communicate if not interested. Underlying clinical problems need to be addressed 31 Never coerce at the breast Coercion may result in conditioned dialling up at breast 23…”

Section: Clinical Strategy Ndc Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

Re-thinking benign inflammation of the lactating breast: Classification, prevention, and management

Douglas

2022

Womens Health (Lond Engl)

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Despite the known benefits of breastfeeding for both infant and mother, clinical support for problems such as benign inflammation of the lactating breast remain a research frontier. Breast pain associated with inflammation is a common reason for premature weaning. Multiple diagnoses are used for benign inflammatory conditions of the lactating breast which lack agreed or evidence-based aetiology, definitions, and treatment. This article is the second in a three-part series. This second review analyses the heterogeneous research literature concerning benign lactation-related breast inflammation from the perspectives of the mechanobiological model and complexity science, to re-think classification, prevention, and management of lactation-related breast inflammation. Benign lactation-related breast inflammation is a spectrum condition, either localized or generalized. Acute benign lactation-related breast inflammation includes engorgement and the commonly used but poorly defined diagnoses of blocked ducts, phlegmon, mammary candidiasis, subacute mastitis, and mastitis. End-stage (non-malignant) lactation-related breast inflammation presents as the active inflammations of abscess, fistula, and septicaemia, and the inactive condition of a galactocoele. The first preventive or management principle of breast inflammation is avoidance of excessively high intra-alveolar and intra-ductal pressures, which prevents strain and rupture of a critical mass of lactocyte tight junctions. This is achieved by frequent and flexible milk removal. The second preventive or management principle is elimination of the mechanical forces which result in high intra-alveolar pressures. This requires elimination of conflicting vectors of force upon the nipple and breast tissue during milk removal; avoidance of focussed external pressure applied to the breast, including avoidance of lump massage or vibration; and avoidance of other prolonged external pressures upon the breast. Three other key preventive or management principles are discussed. Conservative management is expected to be effective for most, once recommendations to massage or vibrate out lumps, which worsen micro-vascular trauma and inflammation, are ceased.

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“…The results of research on the quality and length of nocturnal sleep among nursing mothers are inconsistent. While many authors indicate that breastfeeding mothers have a better quality and longer duration of uninterrupted sleep (4,18,19) , other researchers report no differences between breastfeeding and formula-feeding mothers in that respect (20,21) . The lack of consistency in the results is probably due to heterogeneous methodology, various lengths of time elapsed from childbirth and differences in study group characteristics.…”

Section: Epworth Sleepiness Scale (Ess)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Fatigue, sleepiness, perceived stress and physical activity in postpartum mothers according to the infants’ feeding method. A pilot study

Nurek¹,

Buraczyńska-Andrzejewska²,

Kolasa³

et al. 2021

Pediatr Med Rodz

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Aim of the study: Early motherhood is the time when the female body must cope with sleep deprivation, fatigue, and stress associated with increased responsibilities following the birth of the baby. The aim of this paper was to investigate the psychological wellbeing and physical activity of healthy mothers in the first months postpartum according to the infants’ feeding method. Materials and methods: 24 healthy exclusively breastfeeding and 13 healthy exclusively formula-feeding mothers participated in this study. The results were based on the standardised scales: Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Kaiser Physical Activity Survey (KPAS). Results: When comparing data between the two studied groups, we found that breastfeeding women reported lower levels of sleepiness (p = 0.011) and fatigue (p = 0.0006) than formula-feeding mothers. Perceived stress and physical activity did not differ between the groups. Positive correlation between PSS and FSS was found (r = 0.62, p < 0.005) in the group of breastfeeding mothers. Conclusions: 1) In breastfeeding mothers, fatigue and perceived stress reinforce each other. This relationship serves as an alarm signal to provide nursing mothers with optimal care in order to prevent them from stopping breastfeeding. 2) In a healthy population of mothers from 3 to 6 months postpartum, exclusively breastfeeding women are observed to have lower fatigue and sleepiness levels compared to those who decided to feed their children with formula only. These conclusions may be an additional source of information for the promotion of breastfeeding.

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Association between breastfeeding and new mothers’ sleep: a unique Australian time use study

Cited by 19 publications

References 36 publications

Sleep duration of lactating mothers and its relationship with feeding pattern, milk macronutrients and related serum factors: A combined longitudinal cohort and cross-sectional study

Sleep duration of lactating mothers and its relationship with feeding pattern, milk macronutrients and related serum factors: A combined longitudinal cohort and cross-sectional study

Re-thinking benign inflammation of the lactating breast: Classification, prevention, and management

Fatigue, sleepiness, perceived stress and physical activity in postpartum mothers according to the infants’ feeding method. A pilot study

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