Sleep of mothers, fathers, and infants: a longitudinal study from pregnancy through 12 months

Abstract

Study Objectives This study assessed and compared mothers’ and fathers’ sleep trajectories from pregnancy and throughout the first year of the infant’s life. We also examined associations between maternal, paternal, and infant sleep. Methods Two hundred and thirty-two couples were recruited for the study during pregnancy. Data were collected at pregnancy and at 4, 8, and 12 months postpartum. Maternal, paternal, and infant sleep were monitored at home for seven nights, using actigraphy, sleep diaries, and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Results Mothers showed more impaired sleep quality than fathers, at all assessments, whereas fathers had shorter sleep duration. Based on the ISI, about 70% of mothers and 50% of fathers showed at least sub-clinical insomnia at the different assessments. Trajectory analyses (controlling for feeding method and sleeping arrangements) demonstrated a significant deterioration in diary-based and actigraphy sleep quality for both parents, from pregnancy to 4 months. Both parents and infants had an increase in sleep quality from 4 to 12 months, though some parental sleep variables showed a quadratic pattern with a decrease in sleep quality at 8 months. Statistically significant triadic associations at the different assessments were found between mothers’, fathers’, and infants’ sleep. Maternal and infant sleep measures were more strongly correlated than paternal and infant sleep. Conclusions The findings highlight the importance of considering the family context of sleep, by demonstrating similarities and differences in the changes that sleep undergoes in new mothers and fathers and by showing how sleep is interrelated between all family members.

Sleepless on the road: Are mothers of infants with insomnia at risk for impaired driving?

“…First, maternal caregivers typically bear most of the responsibility for infant care, including feeding and nighttime care, particularly when breastfeeding is involved (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2017). Consequently, maternal sleep is more closely linked to that of their infants than paternal sleep (Horwitz et al, 2023), and mothers of young children may experience greater disruptions in sleep patterns compared with fathers (Richter et al, 2019). Furthermore, when driving with an infant passenger, mothers may be more inclined to respond to infant signals such as crying, as they have lower tolerance for child distress than fathers (Kahn et al, 2018; Sadeh et al, 2016).…”

“…In line with previous studies (Armstrong et al, 2015; Maasalo et al, 2017; Sánchez‐García et al, 2019), we chose to focus the present investigation on women. This decision was made because mothers are typically more likely to be the primary caregiver for their infant, which may result in greater sleep disruption, and therefore an increased degree of vulnerability to impaired driving (Horwitz et al, 2023). We hypothesized that mothers of infants with insomnia would show poorer driving performance compared with both control groups, based on both self‐reports and objective driving assessment.…”

Identifying signs and symptoms of urinary tract infection from emergency department clinical notes using large language models

“…It should also be noted that EHR documentation of UTI signs and symptoms may not accurately represent patients' experiences. Studies using patient surveys 61–63 and audio or video recordings 64,65 of encounters have shown substantial discrepancies between patient‐reported and physician‐documented symptoms or examination findings. For example, a 2015 cross‐sectional study of hospitalized patients with Escherichia coli bacteriuria found low correlation between UTI symptoms as reported in patient surveys and documented in emergency physicians' ( κ = 0.09–0.5) and inpatient physicians' ( κ = 0.06–0.4) EHR notes 66 .…”

Identifying Signs and Symptoms of Urinary Tract Infection from Emergency Department Clinical Notes Using Large Language Models

“…It should also be noted that EHR documentation of UTI signs and symptoms may not accurately represent patients' experiences. Studies using patient surveys [32][33][34] and audio or video recordings [35,36] of encounters have shown substantial discrepancies between patient-reported and physician-documented symptoms or exam findings. For example, a 2015 cross-sectional study of hospitalized patients with e. Coli bacteriuria found low correlation between UTI symptoms as reported in patient surveys and documented in emergency physicians' (κ,0.09-0.5) and inpatient physicians' (κ, 0.06-0.4) EHR notes.…”