From the ArcaMax Publishing, Women Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/women/s-562945-595189
SEATTLE (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say sleep fragmentation -- rather
than lack of sleep -- causes new mothers' fatigue.
Study leader Megan Clegg-Kraynok and Hawley Montgomery-Downs of West
Virginia University in Morgantown, W.Va., supports the hypothesis "new
moms' fatigue" is due to the interrupted nature of their sleep rather
than the timing or amount of sleep.
"We found that although our participants are quite fatigued, and their
sleep at night is highly interrupted, first-time mothers of newborns
go to sleep at night and awaken in the morning at the times they
report are their preferred sleep and wake times," Clegg-Kraynok said
in a statement.
"Mothers of newborns who have other children also fell asleep at their
preferred time, but awoke for the day earlier than their preferred
time. We expect this is because they are awakened by the older child."
The study involved 24 women with an average age of 30.5 years and
average yearly income of $65,808. Of the participants, 92 percent were
white, 96 percent were married/cohabitating, 50 percent were
first-time mothers and 67 percent were breastfeeding. Except for
mothers with multiple children, sleep/wake times remained aligned with
self-reported preferred sleep/wake times.
The findings were presented at Sleep, the annual meeting of the
Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Seattle.